1. Bhagavad Gita Chapter 12 - Collection

Kṛṣṇa offered to join with either of the two clans. He says, 'One of you may have Me unarmed. I will not take any part in the battle. The other may have my entire Yādava army.'

When the offer was first made to Duryodhana, he predictably chose the large and well-armed Yādava army, Nārāyaṇī Senā, in preference to the unarmed Kṛṣṇa.

Arjuna joyfully and gratefully chose his dearest friend, his life mentor and his Guru, Kṛṣṇa, Nārāyaṇa, to be his unarmed charioteer!

This whole history is such a beautiful happening. Mahābhārat is actually your life! Every character in the Mahābhārat teaches so much! We don't need to go anywhere for our life success or fulfillment or for anything else that we may desire. We don't need to study any other book to learn the human psychology or the science of living and leaving. Whether we seek righteous living—dharma; or we want to learn business or administration, economy or abundance—artha; or we want to create the best rich lifestyle—kāma; or we want to be a leader and want the enriching life of being enlightened mokṣa, for all these purposes, we don't need anything other than the Mahābharāt!

Study each character. We will not find any more characters in our life than the characters described in the Mahābharāt!

Any character we see in our life is mapped to Mahābharāt's one character. They are either half or full representation of some character.

To know how to handle them and even handle yourself, just see how Śrī Kṛṣṇa handles them and handle them the same way. The Mahābharāt war is a representation of life as it was lived in that age.

Vyāsa, its author is an unbiased historian who recorded the whole history as it happened without trying to apply any makeup. People ask whether the Mahābharāt war happened at all!

If the Mahābharāt was a story and not history, Vyāsa should receive multiple Pulitzer prizes for his highly creative work! The Mahābharāt is the longest literary work in the whole world with hundred thousand Saṃskṛit verses—the longest poem ever written with such delicate harmony of unmatched poetic perfection. It is larger than the Greek epics. Vyāsa had no computer, no tape recorder with speech-to-text capabilities. He dictated and Bhagavān Ganeṣa wrote it down!

• Yudhiṣṭra is embodiment of Integrity the power of words, vāk śakti.
• Bhīma is embodiment of Authenticity the power of thoughts, mano śakti.

Arjuna is embodiment of Responsibility—the power of feeling, prema śakti.

• Sahadeva is embodiment of Enriching the power of living, ātma śakti.

  • Nakula is embodiment of causing reality for others.

• Śakuni, the maternal uncle of Duryodhana embodies the pattern of self-hatred, which is cunningness personified.

• Droṇa represents all the best knowledge one imbibes and the teachers one encounters, who guide us but are unable to take us through to the ultimate flowering of enlightenment. It is difficult to give them up since one feels grateful to them. This is where the Enlightened Master, the incarnation steps in and guides us.

• Duryodhana, represents one's ego or root-pattern, the most difficult to conquer as it leads one to selfdestruction. One needs the full help of the Master here. It is subtle work and even the Master's help may not be obvious, since at this point, sometimes the ego makes us deny and disconnect from the Master as well.

• Karṇa is the repository of all good deeds and it is his good deeds that stand in the way of his own Enlightenment. Śrī Kṛṣṇa has to take the load of Karṇa's puṇya, his meritorious deeds, before he could be liberated. The Enlightened Master guides one to drop one's attachment to good deeds arising out of what are perceived to be charitable and compassionate intentions. He also shows us that the quest for and the experience of enlightenment is the ultimate act of compassion that one can offer to the world. Bhagavan Ṣri Kṛṣṇa, the 8th most powerful purnāvatar of Ṃaha Viśnu, is the embodiment of pure celebration, boundless love, compassion, and completion.

Bhagavan Ṣri Kṛṣṇa is the only incarnation demonstrating and expressing Ṣarva Ṃangalatva all the auspicious qualities and all dimensions of an avatar during His physical happening. The līla Bhagavan Ṣri Krsna is one of sheer innocence and simplicity, in a peace-loving, diplomatic, conflict-free way.

Karṇa is the repository of all good deeds and it is his good deeds that stand in the way of his own Enlightenment. Śrī Kṛṣṇa has to take the load of Karṇa's puṇya, his meritorious deeds, before he could be liberated. The Enlightened Master guides one to drop one's attachment to good deeds arising out of what are perceived to be charitable and compassionate intentions. He also shows us that the quest for and the experience of enlightenment is the ultimate Till now everyone blames Bhagavan Sri Krishna for this Kurukshetra war but that's the greatest sacrifice Bhagavan Sri Krishna did to save the planet Earth. If Kurukshetra was not conducted at that time under the controlled conditions and direct supervision of Bhagavan Sri Krishna, planet Earth would not have survived more than three years.

act of compassion that one can offer to the world. Bhagavan Ṣri Kṛṣṇa, the 8th most powerful purnāvatar of Ṃaha Viśnu, is the embodiment of pure celebration, boundless love, compassion, and completion. Bhagavan Ṣri Kṛṣṇa is the only incarnation demonstrating and expressing Ṣarva Ṃangalatva all the auspicious qualities a nd all dimensions of an avatar during His physical happening. The līla Bhagavan Ṣri Krsna is one of sheer innocence and The wide spread availability of the Astra shastras without Shastra, without the knowledge and vision, was posing a huge threat to the whole of humanity and planet Earth, and for life itself. The greatest achievement of Bhagavan Sri Krishna is destroying all the weapons in one controlled condition and saving planet earth, eliminating the nuclear weapons and the knowledge of these nuclear weapons to save humanity from total annihilation.

simplicity, in a peace-loving, diplomatic,

conflict-free way.

Bhagavad Gītā appears in the heart of Mahābhārat in Bhīṣma Parva, the sixth chapter of its eighteen chapters. Veda Vyāsa, the narrator, in glorifying the Gītā sings, 'the one who drinks the water of Ganges (the sacred river for Hindus) attains liberation, what to speak of the one who drinks the nectar of Gītā?

Gītā is the essential nectar of the Mahābhārat, bhāratamṛta sarvasvam as it is directly spoken by Nārāyaṇa, Bhagavān kṛṣṇa Himself.'

The armies assembled in the vast field of Kurukṣetra, now in the state of Haryana in modern day Bharat. All the kings and princes were related to one another, and were often on opposite sides. Facing the Kaurava army and his friends, relatives and teachers, Arjuna was overcome by remorse and guilt, and wanted to walk away from the battle out of total powerlessness unbecoming an invincible warrior among warriors.

Śrī Kṛṣṇa's dialogue with Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukṣetra out of His utmost concern and love for him and humanity is the content of Bhagavad Gītā. Of its seven hundred and forty-five (745) verses, Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa sings the Gītā in six hundred and twenty (620) verses responding to Arjuna's fifty-seven (57) enquiries.

Śrī Kṛṣṇa persuades Arjuna to give-up his powerlessness unfitting an Ārya—the spiritually evolved one who understands human life and urges him to raise himself again as Parantapa—the conqueror of enemy, and take up arms and vanquish his enemies. They are already dead,' says Śrī Kṛṣṇa, 'All those who are facing you have been already killed by Me. Go ahead and do what you have to do. That is your responsibility. Do not worry about the outcome. Leave that to Me.'

Authored by

THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM

arjuna uvāca evaṁ satata-yuktā ye bhaktāstvāṁ paryupāsate I ye cā'py akṣaram avyaktaṁ teṣāṁ ke yoga-vittamāh

Arjuna asked: Who are considered perfect, those who are always engaged sincerely in Your worship in form, or those who worship the imperishable, the unmanifest formless You?

Through devotion and gratitude, a person has divine experiences and enjoys bliss, which in turn leads to feelings of great love and gratitude towards the whole world and every living being.

Arjuna asks, 'Which of these two types of people are considered to be better: those who are always engaged in your bhakti, devotional love towards you or those who merge in the Brahman, the unmanifest, formless, Cosmic consciousness?' Please be clear, Arjuna is not asking for himself. From here, the discourse becomes a simple discussion. It is more like trying to record the truth for future generations. The questions from here onward are neither doubts nor enquiries. Arjuna tries to put the whole thing down in the expression form, so that it will be a useful reference for future generations. A flow of Arjuna's love for humanity, an expression of his divine experience, prompts him to seek answers to these vexing questions and record the answers from the godhead Himself. Arjuna asks, 'Who will be established in You totally? Will it be a devotee or a person who is enlightened?' Religious people or so-called religious people, confuse others with this verse about Arjuna's question as to whether worshipping the form or worshipping the formless is right.

These people are so confused that they do not know right from wrong. They use their intellectual arrogance and misunderstanding to confuse others. Let me tell you, this is not what Arjuna meant by asking this question. If we look at Kṛṣṇa's answers, we will understand. Experience Or Expression? Completion Or Enriching?

Arjuna asks, 'Is it good to be established in the experience of the Divine consciousness, just to stay in it and enjoy the eternal bliss that flows from that experience? Or is it better to express that love and gratitude created by the conscious experience towards the whole world and every living being? Which is correct? Which one is preferred?'

See, when we have a spiritual experience, some people stay in that experience with closed eyes, that's all. Only with eyes closed can they see God. They do not seek to use their senses, since the bliss within is so great and beautiful that absolutely no sensory input remotely matches that bliss. However, there are others who are impelled to open their eyes, by the Universe to communicate that blissful experience through their expression to enrich others. The so-called scholars enter into endless debates on savikalpa samādhi and nirvikalpa samādhi.

Savikalpa samādhi is the state where the experience of samādhi continues. Nirvikalpa samādhi is when the expression of samādhi starts. Savikalpa samādhi is supposed to be a lower state, and one is supposed to work towards the second and higher state of nirvikalpa samādhi. But it is not an ironclad rule.

"In my case, both (Savikalpa samādhi & Nirvikalpa samādhi) happened together. I did not go through two stages. I went through just one and reached the state where the experience was allowed to be expressed." - The SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM

It was the will of the Divine, Parāśakti. Please understand that this is not a choice that people make. An option is not presented to those who have such experiences. Those who experience the Divine transcend that point of freewill. They are driven wholly, in each step that they take, by Parāśakti, the Universal energy; by Kṛṣṇa, the Superconscious Divine.

Arjuna understands that he and others who have had an experience of the Divine, face the choicelessness. He knows that Kṛṣṇa decides what he should do. Yet, he asks because he wants everyone to understand. Arjuna asks, 'What type of a person is greater? Is it a person who closes his eyes and sees God within himself or a person who opens his eyes and sees God in every being? Who is greater?'

He is not asking whether worshiping the form or worshiping the formless is greater. Yet so-called religious people have interpreted it that way, and created problems between the teachings of the great masters, Ādī Śa�…karācārya and Rāmānuja. Śa�…kara followed jñāna, the path of knowledge, and Rāmānuja followed bhakti, the path of devotion. Jñāna, focuses on the formless through intellectual queries. Bhakti focuses on the form, sheer devotion, as if the Divine were alive as It indeed is! However, those who have studied Śa�…kara and Rāmānuja in depth know that there was much devotion in Śa�…kara's approach and much knowledge in Rāmānuja's approach!

Both approaches converge. One without the other never works. Expressing the gratitude that happens because of the experience is devotion. Having that experience and rejoicing, staying in that experience is knowledge; that's all. Kṛṣṇa's answer is that both paths are the same. The paths are intertwined. The first one leads to the second one and the second one leads back to the first one. We have heard the term vicious circle. First one leads to the second and the second one leads back to the first one.

Vicious circle leads to low energy or lower level of consciousness. Virtuous circle leads to high energy, a higher level of consciousness! Bliss leading to devotion and gratitude, devotion and gratitude leading to bliss: these two form the virtuous circle that lead us to higher consciousness. Bliss means the experience of completion that leads us to the expression of gratitude and enriching. Again, the expression, the gratitude of enriching, leads us to bliss, and bliss leads us to deeper completion. One leads to the other and therefore it is a virtuous circle.

Usually we are caught in the vicious circle. Fear leads to greed and greed leads to fear. More fear leads to more greed, and more greed leads to more fear. This is the vicious circle. Here Kṛṣṇa introduces the virtuous circle. Virtuous circle is what He calls dharma, righteousness, that which must be followed in the path of truth. Dharma means virtuous circle, that which leads us to live and express higher and higher levels of Consciousness. That in turn leads us to higher and higher levels of blissful experience. Consciousness and bliss lead to expression of that consciousness and bliss, which in turn lead to higher level experiences.

Impress upon the students that it is liberating to encourage feelings of devotion and gratitude towards god for our lives and to be in completion.

• ❖ What is Savikalpa samādhi ?

• ❖ What is Nirvikalpa samādhi?

• ❖ What is best: to close one's eyes and see God within or to open one's eyes and see God in every being?

• ❖ What is the difference between the jñāna, the path of knowledge and bhakti, the path of devotion as a means to seek the ultimate truth?

• ❖ What is the vicious cycle and how does it differ from the virtuous cycle?

• 1. paper,
• 2. pencil and watercolors,
• 3. brush, water.

Draw a painting that according to you could best depicting the feeling of "Bliss"

Bliss means the experience of completion that leads us to the expression of gratitude and enriching.

Part 2: Bhagavad Gita Chapter 12

Create a flow chart to depict a Virtuous Circle i.e. draw a continuing sequence of stages of enlightenment: bliss, completion, gratitude and enriching, in a circular non-directional flow. Each stage should have the same level of importance. Now write a few sentences in your notebook, describing your very own personal experience of bliss, completion, gratitude and enriching.

Bliss can lead to completion, which leads to devotion and gratitude, or devotion and gratitude can lead to completion and bliss.

Topic of discussion: "Is it good to be established in the experience of the Divine consciousness, just to stay in it and enjoy divine bliss within oneself; or is it better to express that love and gratitude created by the conscious experience towards the whole world and every living being by encouraging others to seek the divine within?"

Arjuna understands that he and others who have had an experience of the Divine, face the choicelessness. He knows that Kṛṣṇa decides what he should do.

Authored by

THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM

śrī Bhagavānuvāca mayyāveśya mano ye māṁ nityayuktā upāsate I śraddhayā parayo'petās te me yuktatamā matāḥ

Lord Kṛṣṇa says: Those, who by fixing their mind on Me eternally, and those who are steadfast in worshiping Me with supreme faith, I consider them to be perfect in Yoga, ready to be united with Me.

If we use His words properly with integrity and authenticity, we will have the experience of completion, of devotion. We will radiate His words, we will enrich with His love.

Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa says, those who fix their mind on Me eternally and those who are steadfast in worshipping Me with supreme faith, I consider them to be perfect in yoga, ready to be united with Me. Bhagavān says, 'Those who are established in their consciousness that expresses devotional gratitude, bhakti, are always engaged in Me. Those who focus on the transcendental faith, meaning the experience that they undergo at the time of Cosmic experience, they are engaged in Me. Both are ultimate. Both are united in Me.

Saṃskṛit is a beautiful language. We can make any meaning out of any word. That is why thousands of commentaries on the Gītā are possible, yet the Gītā is still new. No book has been commented upon by so many masters, as much as the Gītā has been. Each master gives his own meaning.

Again, I insist that if a person who has not had a spiritual experience starts expressing, lecturing, he will naturally be in trouble and create trouble for others as well. In the same way that the blind leads the blind, both end up in trouble. A person without any spiritual experience, when he translates or talks, he automatically does only 'text torturing.' Real Completion Expresses as Enriching with Love.

Understand this small example: Let us say I draw a diagram and explain the concept of an experience that I have had to you. Later, you present only an audio CD of this session to a friend who did not attend this lecture. You have not had the experience; you merely translate my experience. How much can you explain? He will not be able to grasp much. He will miss my body language completely.

You can not explain accurately either, because you are not the one who had the experience. A person who just has the audio recording or a book copy, cannot understand much. Like that, Bhagavad Gītā is a transcription of the audio recording. Even the voice modulation is not there. How much can you translate or interpret?

That is why Vivekananda emphasized, again and again, not to read or listen to anything expressed by a person who has not personally experienced the truth. Most importantly, he said, 'Bother about who is speaking, rather than what he is speaking.' He emphasized the personal experience. He added, 'All the books in the libraries in this world cannot lead you to the truth. Once you have realized the truth, you do not need books.' Spiritual experience transcends mind and ego. It is pure, uncolored and permanent. By expressing an understanding of someone's experience, one may express a fact or an opinion at best, but never the truth. Truth must be experienced to be expressed.

Those who express their experience as devotion, see the world, upāsate. The word upāssana can be translated in many ways. When we see the Divine in everybody, when we express the truth of the spiritual experience, whatever we do is upāssana.

Please be very clear, when we can't see the Divine in people around us, we can't see the Divine in any statue or any Master either. If we don't see the Divine in living beings, we cannot see the Divine in a God or a Guru. Rāmānuja lived on planet Earth for a long time and inspired thousands of people in the path of spirituality and meditation. One young man asked Rāmānuja, 'Master, please tell me how I can achieve bhakti, achieve God, achieve devotion?' Rāmānuja asked him, 'Have you ever loved anybody in your life?' This man was shaken. He said, 'I am a pure brahmacāri, a celibate. How can you ask me this question? I came to learn about God and you ask me this question?'

The relationship you carry with you is projected as the relationship with the world! I tell you, when you bring integrity in your relationship with others, honoring the words you gave or completing the words you gave, the way others look at you will be transformed immediately. To truly love and enrich someone whom we spend our life with, to prevent familiarity from breeding contempt, we need to complete with others and our self, and drop our 'I' and 'mine'. Being established in that consciousness of completion or expressing it towards enriching the Universe is the same. When a person is merged, when a person is established, he automatically radiates. If love is not happening, if the expression is not happening, the person has not experienced it. When the real experience of completion happens, it automatically expresses as enriching.

Experience is not something we can possess and keep in our cupboard. No! Experience will possess us and it will radiate as enriching through us. This is because we cannot possess an experience. Only the experience can possess us. When experiences possess us, whatever we do will be a song. Any word that comes out will be a song. Our being will be so light. We will simply float. Our body language will radiate grace. All our expressions will be a great enriching service to humanity.

An Enlightened man never keeps quiet nor does he talk, he just sings. That is why the Gītā is given in the form of a song. The Gītā is not prose. It is poetry. Great truths can never be expressed in logic. They can only be expressed through poetry. Prose is logic. It is bound.

It is rigid. But poetry is emotion. It is love and it flows.

Kṛṣṇa says that a person established in the consciousness of completion is great; however, the person who expresses, who shares, who automatically radiates the power of living by enriching is as great as the one who is established. The truth is that if a man is established in consciousness, he will radiate, he will enrich, and he will sing.

When the real experience of completion happens, it automatically expresses as enriching.

• ❖ Can a person who has not had any spiritual experience teach the scriptures? Why?
• ❖ What is enriching others with spiritual truths? Why is enriching others with love important? Is enriching equal to devotion?
• ❖ Why is the Bhagavad Gita in the form of a song?

• 1. Printouts of famous paintings
• 2. Paper, pencil, crayons

The class coordinator will distribute the print outs of famous paintings, for example: Mona Lisa (Leonardo Da Vinci), Shakuntala (Raja Ravi Verma), the Last Supper (Leonardo Da Vinci), The Starry Night (Vincent Van Gogh), The persistence of Memory (Salvador Dali), Guernica (Pablo Picasso) etc. Each child must attempt at making a copy of the original painting.

A copied painting is most likely to deviate from the original in certain details like colour, shape, size etc or even the idea behind the image, depending on the skill and authenticity of the copier. Same way, a copied experience deviated from the original.

Let's play chinese whispers. Make the children sit in a circle. Then the class coordinator shall whisper a sentence or phrase to one child, who shall then whisper it to the next child, and the cycle will continue till the last child in the circle hears it. This last child will have to announce what he heard to the class. If the last child hears it exactly as the teacher had first said, then the whole group wins. Repeat the cycle till the group gets it right.

A direct spiritual experience is better than trying to understand the ultimate truths from someone else's spiritual experience.

Topic of discussion is "Truth must be experienced to be expressed."

By expressing an understanding of someone's experience, one may express a fact or an opinion at best, but never the truth. Truth must be experienced to be expressed.

Authored by

THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM

ye tv akṣaram anirdeśyam avyaktaṁ paryupāsate I sarvatragam acintyaṁ ca kūṭa-stham acalaṁ dhruvam

But those who worship with awareness the imperishable, the unmanifest, that which lies beyond the perception of senses, the all pervading, inconceivable, unchanging, the non-moving and permanent,

Everything else in this material Universe may come and go, appear and disappear, while the Divine remains forever.

sanniyamyendriya-grāmaṁ sarvatra samabuddhayaḥ I te prāpnuvanti mām eva sarvabhūtahite ratāḥ

Those who worship by restraining their senses, and are working with even mind for the benefit of mankind, they too attain Me.

When one has realized the formless nature of the Divine, its imperishability and its unmanifest nature with controlled senses, one works for the enrichment of mankind. Therefore, a person who is established always radiates and the person who radiates is always established.

Kṛṣṇa is sagu�…a brahman, the physical Cosmos, who showed Himself in this form to Arjuna, in His viśvarūpa, Cosmic form. Kṛṣṇa is nirguṇa brahman as well, the formless consciousness. In both the form and the formless, He is Kṛṣṇa, the Divine consciousness who has all the attributes that He talks about here.

The Divine is imperishable. It is akṣaram. Everything else in this material Universe may come and go, appear and disappear, while the Divine remains forever.

It is unique and incomparable and cannot be benchmarked against anything, as it is supreme. It is avyaktam, unmanifest and acinytam,

Inconceivable, and therefore cannot be comprehended by the senses. It cannot be grasped by thoughts and mind, which is why one's mind-body needs to be transcended to glimpse the Divine. The Divine resides everywhere and is omnipresent.

The true devotee sees his Lord everywhere. Rāmakṛṣṇa describes the love of a true devotee this way: 'It is the love of a chaste wife for her husband, the attachment of a miser towards his hoarded wealth, the craving of a worldly person for sensual pleasures, all rolled into one and directed towards the Lord, creating devotion.'

The true devotee, who follows either path with completion, with his senses focused on the Lord, experiences Him and also experiences the bliss of enriching humanity. The devotee sees the Lord in everyone he meets. His experience of His Lord becomes His expression of love to all.

Kṛṣṇa's beloved Radhā tells the gopīkās (cowherdress who were around Kṛṣṇa), 'I don't know what has happened to me. I see Kṛṣṇa in everybody. I feel that everybody is Kṛṣṇa. I don't know what is happening.' One of the gopikās answers, 'You have devotion as the very black eyeliner in your eyes!'

It is like this: When you wear dark glasses everything appears dark; when you wear greentinted glasses, everything appears green. In the same way, when you have devotion as your very eyeliner, whomsoever you see appears as Kṛṣṇa, appears divine! Here, Kṛṣṇa says, the person established in super consciousness space of completion and the person who radiates devotion and lives for enriching are the same. They are not two different groups.

Kṛṣṇa does not create two groups. Arjuna presents two groups as the reality that he sees: those who are established and those who are radiating. Kṛṣṇa says both are the same. He does not divide them into two groups, those who are established and those who radiate, or those who are complete and those who enrich. Kṛṣṇa says, a person who is established always radiates and the person who radiates is always established. It is a virtuous circle.

Rāmakṛṣṇa says, 'When a bell rings, each stroke has a sound form of its own. But even when the bell stops ringing, we continue to hear the sound. That's how God appears, both as form and as formless.'

Once again, Kṛṣṇa makes the point here. When one has realized the formless nature of the Divine, its imperishability and its unmanifest nature with controlled senses, one works for the enrichment of mankind.

Once the experience of the formless divine happens, it is no different from the experience of the form. Both lead to the truth that one is a part of collective consciousness. The expression of this realization is one of deep humility and compassion. It is manifested as deep gratitude and surrender. One learns to low with the energy of this Universe. One no longer struggles against the currents of

When we are full of ego we tend to control. We believe we can bring order to an otherwise chaotic world. It takes only a moment to realize that this entire Universe and planet Earth function not because of us, but in spite of us. Millions and millions of stars and planets in this Universe function in apparent chaos. But understand, the Universe is always in order.

We want to be in order but we are truly chaotic. Only when we surrender to the will of the Universe, we fall into the cosmic order. Things go well for us. When we give up wanting, we get what we want. When we get what we truly want, it enriches mankind. Because when we surrender, Kṛṣṇa takes care. Kṛṣṇa is not the Kṛṣṇa whom you think He is. He is not the single form you are used to. He is the Super conscious energy, the Cosmic Energy, Parāśakti.

Impress upon the students that god is the superconscious energy that pervades everything. Therefore, god can be realised both in the form and in the formless. This realization should lead to gratitude within us and devotion towards all of mankind and all life forms.

• ❖ What is the collective consciousness?
• ❖ What is the difference between experiencing divine in form and in formlessness?
• ❖ What is the difference between love for a fellow being and devotional love? Can we control our live experiences?
• ❖ What is the best attitude to have towards life's ups and downs or chaos?

Let us do clay modeling. Let us create a clay model that depicts God in his formless form. Each child has the freedom to define God, or Supreme Being or Brahman in the most convenient way he/she is comfortable. We will attempt to give form with the clay to the formless.

The ancient Hindus gave one of the best representations for the formless, infinite, attributeless God in the form of a three dimensional oval shaped cosmic egg. This shape was called "lingam" which in sanskrit means distinguishing symbol. Thus the Shiva linga is a symbol of that which is beyond all symbolism.

Let us discuss a few natural and supernatural concepts: Sublimation, Deposition, Combustion, Materialization and Teleportation.

'Sublimation' is a phase transition when a substance changes directly from a solid to a gas without passing through the liquid state. For example: moth balls, dry ice, air fresheners and iodine.

'Deposition' is the phase transition in which gas transforms into solid without passing through the liquid phase. When a substance deposes, it changes directly from gas to solid. For example: snow, dry ice, hail stone.

'Combustion' is when matter turns into light and heat energy. Eg, steam energy, paper burns to give light and heat.

'Materialization' is the creation or appearance of matter from nothing. Eg. a gem appears on the hand from nowhere.

'Teleportation' is the transfer of matter or energy from one point to another point without traversing the physical space between the two points. Eg. an object disappears from one place and reappears somewhere else without being physically transported. Let us watch at least one YouTube video that demonstrates each of the above phenomena or explains the concept.

All the above concepts demonstrate that matter can change its form. Matter can become energy. Energy can become matter. All matter at its core is energy. The source or form of energy may differ eg. light energy, wind energy, thermal energy, sound energy, electrical energy, kinetic energy, potential energy etc. but the energy itself is one and the same it is cosmic energy. This superconscious energy is what all cultures and religious traditions refer to as "God". Therefore, everything is God. To love god is to have loving devotion towards all beings.

Topic of discussion: "Is the Universe orderly or chaotic?"

God, the superconscious energy pervades everything: it is both in the form and in the formless.

Authored by

THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM

kleśo'dhikatarasteṣām avyaktāsaktacetasām I avyaktā hi gatir duḥkhaṁ dehavadbhir avāpyate

For those whose minds are set on the unmanifest, the formless, it is more difficult to advance; attaining the formless unmanifest is difficult for the embodied.

If you are able to make anything negative into positive, the moment it enters into your life, you are Śiva—Causeless Auspiciousness.

For those whose minds are set on the unmanifest, the formless, it is more difficult to advance; attaining the formless unmanifest is difficult for the embodied. Kṛṣṇa says here what many of us know to be true. He says, intellectuals find it more difficult to comprehend the Divine.

Once, Brahma and Viṣṇu had a conflict as to who was greater.

For any conflict, two egos are required. When anybody, who is in space, time and form, forgets to take responsibility for other's irresponsibility, there will be conflict. Now, the Universe is at stake!

So Śiva, the one who is responsible for everything, enters the realm of space and time as Aruṇācaleśvara, as jyotisthambha, an infinite shaft of light that spans the Universe. Śiva said to them, 'The one who finds either of my two ends is greater.'

Viṣṇu assuming the form of a boar, dug through the earth searching for the lower end of the light shaft. Brahma flew up as a swan to reach the upper end. After a very long time, Viṣṇu realized the futility in trying to find Śiva's beginning and returned. He restored his authenticity by completing with Śiva, for attempting to look for His unmanifest beginning. Brahma continued regardless.

On his way up, he found a flower floating down, who said that it was falling from Śiva's head for many lifetimes of Brahma. Startled, Brahma realized there was no way he would reach the end of the shaft, and forced the flower to support his claim that he, Brahma, had picked the flower from Śiva's locks.

Hearing Brahma's lie, his lack of integrity, Śiva became furious and taking the form of destruction, Rudra, cut off one of Brahma's heads and forbade him from being worshipped. There is metaphoric meaning to this happening. Viṣṇu represents wealth or sthiti (sustenance) and Brahma represents intellect or sṛiṣṭi (creation). Sṛiṣti and sthiti think that they are the ultimate until samhāra, destruction enters their life. Only then, do they realize that they are not the ultimate!

That is why Mahādeva has to happen in their life in the form of Rudra, destruction. Mahādeva appears to Brahma and Viṣṇu to expose their inauthenticity to them, and makes them responsible for their inauthenticity and others' inauthenticity.

In one's search for the truth, the Divine, the unmanifest, avyakta, which is what the intellectual seeker is focusing on, the intellect, the mind or ego will be the block that makes the path difficult to traverse. The individual carries not only the body but the mind as well. And with the mind, it carries the ego. As Kṛṣṇa points out avyaktā hi gatir duḥkhaṁ (12.5).

Shedding the ego and restoring completion is the most difficult thing for the mind-body system. Ego provides the mind-body with its identity with its existence. Till then, Mahādeva, the embodiment of completion and responsibility, has to appear again and again in your life to remind you to take responsibility. Whether now or in Kṛṣṇa's time, the world revolved around the power of thought, the power that seems to provide knowledge and skills. It was essential for one's recognition and status in life.

Part 3: Bhagavad Gita Chapter 12 - Collection_English_part_3.md

Dropping the ego and taking responsibility to restore authenticity is the most difficult thing for the body-mind, especially for one who is focused on the intellect. Whenever you look at any destruction as a reminder of your inauthenticity and irresponsibility, it is no more a destruction in your life. You have learnt how to make anything negative into something positive, to strengthen your life. If you are able to make anything negative into positive, the moment it enters into your life, you are Śiva— Causeless Auspiciousness.

Impress upon the students that the unmanifest formless form of god can be experienced by going beyond the body and the mind. The mind is an illusion and the ego blocks our ultimate truth from us. Once the mind and the ego is dropped the formless form of God is revealed.

• ❖ In the message in the story of the jyotisthambha ?
• ❖ How does the ego block spiritual advancement?
• ❖ What is greater: the ability to generate wealth and sustain oneself and others; or the ability of creativity or intelligence?

• 1. Paper
• 2. Pencil, eraser
• 3. Thin brush
• 4. Glue
• 5. Half a teaspoon yellow turmeric powder
• 6. Half a teaspoon red kumkum powder
• 7. Half a teaspoon greyish white bhasma (sacred ash)

Draw an outline of your hand on a piece of paper. Now draw the outline of Ganesha, the God of auspicious beginnings in the inside of the outline of the hand. Draw Ganesha's eyes and tusks. Outline the Ganesha, his eyes, tusk and the hand with a black colour pen. With a brush, apply glue inside the tusk and white portion of your Ganesha's eyes.

Keep the eyeballs uncovered and coloured black. Heap a pinch of bhasma on the two tusks and the eyes of Ganesha so that the bhasma sticks to the glued surface. Now dust the page clear of the excess bhasma. Cover the rest of the Ganesha with a coat of Kumkum powder and cover the hand with a coat of turmeric powder.

Remembrance of God brings auspiciousness into our lives.

Let us try to visualize that God is the space inside and outside of everything in the Universe. Imagine that God is vibrating within every atom. Try to feel that God is flowing in the air all around us. And that all beings and objects are filled with God and are floating in God.

Try to imagine that god is within you constantly witnessing your every thought, emotion and action. God is your constant companion in every moment and has his unwavering attention, protection and grace on you at all times.

How does it feel to know that a supremely loving and all powerful presence is within you and watching over you all the time. Write down your thoughts and emotions to internalize this knowledge.

A evolved power of visualization and intense seeking, is needed to realize the truth about the formless, unmanifest, and all pervading presence of God.

Topic of discussion is "The mind and all its thoughts are an illusion"

God Realization cannot happen by application of logic. The mind must be transcended to realize one's own divinity.

Authored by

THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM

ye tu sarvāṇi karmāṇi mayi sannyasya matparāḥ I ananyenaiva yogena māṁ dhyāyanta upāsate

But those who worship me with single minded devotion, renouncing all activities unto Me.

Surrender all your actions and the fruits of those actions to Krishna.

teṣām ahaṁ samuddhartā mṛtyu-saṁsārasāgarāt I bhavāmi na cirātpārtha mayy āveśita cetasām

regarding Me as their supreme goal, whose minds are set in Me, I shall deliver them soon from their ocean of the birth and death cycle.

Serve Krishna. Meditate upon Krishna. Consider attaining Krishna consciousness as your supreme goal. Be devoted to Krishna. It is Krishna's promise "When you surrender to Me, I shall liberate you.'

But those who worship me with singleminded devotion, renouncing all activities unto Me, regarding Me as their Supreme goal, whose minds are set in Me, O Pārtha, I shall deliver them soon from the ocean of the birth and death cycle.

Kṛṣṇa makes a promise here. Kṛṣṇa says unequivocally, 'I shall deliver them from their material existence, the ocean of saṁsāra, the cycle of life and death, mṛtyu-saṁsāra-sāgarāt. All that the Lord asks is that the devotee be devoted to Him. Kṛṣṇa says, 'If you surrender to Me, surrender all your actions and the fruits of those actions to Me, do my service, meditate upon Me, remain singleminded upon My consciousness, I shall then liberate you. I shall make sure you never need to be born again.'

It is the roar of a lion. It is the roar of the King of this Universe. 'Surrender to Me and I shall liberate you. Serve Me and I shall liberate you.'

To most of us, God is only a concept and we worship that concept. Most of the time, we beg of that concept. We pray, 'Give me this O Lord, give me that O Lord.' When we have one prayer answered, we begin the next. As long as God answers our prayers, as long as the Master provides us with what we ask for, our faith in Him lasts. The moment the prayer goes unanswered, our faith dissolves.

We move on to another God or Master.

We do not realize that often God does not answer our prayers out of sheer compassion, out of sheer love for us. From time to time, God in His infinite wisdom turns down our requests such as wanting to become rich, wanting to be well, wanting to have children, and so on.

We then move awaylisten. Surrendering to the Divine is not conditional. It must be total. There can be no 'ifs', 'ands', or 'buts'. It cannot be, 'If you grant my prayers, I shall be devoted to you.' That is business. Most of our relationship with God is business. from Him.

There are three kinds of surrender. First, there is surrender of one's intellect. For many, this is possible. Once we understand that there is a Universal energy far greater than us, most of us can accept and surrender intellectually to that supreme power. At least we can say, 'I surrender.'

That's how many of us prostrate in a temple or before a master. The entire body touches the ground signifying our surrender. For that moment, our ego takes a vacation.

Surrender at the next level is emotional. One can melt at the thought of God or master. There is love, there is gratitude pouring out of our hearts and we feel tears streaming down. We become bhaktas, devotees. Rāmakṛṣṇa said, 'If you have tears in your eyes when you think of God or your Master, be very clear, this is your last birth! You are ready for liberation.'

We are ready but not liberated until we reach the last and third step. This step of surrender is the surrender of one's senses. Our surrender is total at this stage: complete, spontaneous, instant and natural. Kṛṣṇa says, 'When you surrender to Me, I shall liberate you.'

To reach Him, we must surrender totally without deviation. Our senses must be surrendered to Him. Our entire consciousness, our complete awareness must only be of Him and nothing else. Nothing else needs to be done. The technique is so simple. Surrender and I shall save you,' says the Master.

The message of Krishna for the students is that Surrender is the simplest technique for liberation.

• ❖ Why is our faith in god or master conditional on our prayers being answered?
• ❖ Why does god sometimes not answer our prayers?
• ❖ What are the three kinds of surrender: intellectual surrender, emotional surrender and surrender of all senses?

An Art Critic is a person who specializes in analyzing, interpreting and evaluating visual arts. Look at this photograph with the eye of an Art Critic. What do you see?

The poet Rumi wrote about 'tears of devotion', thus: "There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but of the Power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are messengers of overwhelming grief and unspeakable love."

If you have tears in your eyes when you think of God or your Master, it is gratitude pouring out of your heart. Emotional surrender prepares us for liberation.

Most ancient Hindu Temples floors have the engraved inscription or carvings in stone on the temple floor showing devotees doing sashtanga namaskara in the direction of the main temple deity. Sashtanga namaskara is a full body prostration done with folded hands where the entire body touches the ground to signify the surrender of our ego or intellect and as a mark of respect to God. It is a symbol of dropping the ego and taking refuge at the Lord's feet.

Let us now learn how to do a Sashtanga Namaskara. The posture of the salutation differs according to one's gender. Follow the illustrations below:

We must surrender our ego in order to take refuge in God.

All the above concepts demonstrate that matter can change its form. Matter can become energy. Energy can become matter. All matter at its core is energy. The source or form of energy may differ eg. light energy, wind energy, thermal energy, sound energy, electrical energy, kinetic energy, potential energy etc. but the energy itself is one and the same it is cosmic energy. This superconscious energy is what all cultures and religious traditions refer to as "God". Therefore, everything is God. To love god is to have loving devotion towards all beings.

Topic of discussion: "What is surrender of the senses?"

To reach God, we must surrender totally without deviation. Our senses must be surrendered to Him. Our entire consciousness, our complete awareness must only be of Him and nothing else.

Authored by

THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM

mayyeva mana ādhatsva mayi buddhiṁ niveśaya I nivasiṣyasi mayyeva ata ūrdhvaṁ na saṁśayaḥ

You fix your mind on Me alone, establish your mind in Me. You will live in Me always. There is no doubt in it.

We must continuously try to enrich ourselves and others with spiritual thoughts and ideas. When our sensory inputs are pure, our consciousness will automatically get established in the divine.

You fix your mind on Me alone, establish your mind in Me. You will live in Me always. There is no doubt in it. Just fix your mind upon Me, the supreme personality of the Divine and engage all your mind, body and senses in Me and you will thus live in Me always, without a doubt, assures Kṛṣṇa.

Now He comes to the technique. At one point the virtuous circle must begin. First, He explains the virtuous circle of the ultimate experience and expression. Now He comes to the technique.

Please understand that love is not a mood. It is not a mere emotion. It is our very Existence. As long as it is our mood, it will come and go. There are two kinds of love, horizontal love and vertical love. Let me explain. Horizontal love is like a horizontal line, flat. It is related to time: it starts and ends. Anything that starts must end. If it takes more time to end, don't think it is permanent. Anything that starts must end. It may take a few years or a few months, but it ends. It is impermanent and time bound. This is horizontal love. Horizontal love is related to time.

Vertical love is related to consciousness. Vertical love neither starts nor ends. It does not discriminate. It is our very quality. It flows.

suddenly, at some point we realize, we are living inside everybody just as we live inside our own body.

There is a beautiful example given in the Upaniṣads. A master asked a disciple, 'Do you enjoy all your five senses?' The disciple said, 'Yes.' The master enquired, 'What if one of your senses was missing, would you have the same amount of joy?'

The disciple replied, 'No, it would be twenty percent less, and if two of my senses were missing, it would be forty percent less.' The master suddenly said, 'What if you had five more senses?' The disciple answered, 'Naturally my enjoyment would be a hundred percent extra. If I am given one more body, naturally I will enjoy everything twice as much. Or if I am given five bodies, naturally I will enjoy things five times as much.'

If we experience that we are living in all the bodies of this world, how much joy or ecstasy would we experience? It would be immeasurable, eternal and ultimate. That is what enlightened people experience all the time—living Advaita! When they experience themselves as the whole Universe, or as being in every body, they experience tremendous ecstasy, pleasure or bliss. That is why they don't need anything from the outer world.

Here, Kṛṣṇa gives techniques to start the virtuous circle. 'Fix your mind on Me, mayy eva mana ādhatsva. Establish your intelligence in Me, mayi buddhiṁ niveśaya. In this way, after acquiring the boundary-less consciousness, you will live in Me always, nivasiṣyasi mayy eva.'

How should we establish our intelligence in Him? Continuously try to enrich yourself and others with these thoughts and ideas that Kṛṣṇa teaches. Rāmakṛṣṇa says that what we belch depends upon what we eat. For instance, if we eat some kind of vegetable or fruit, the smell of that comes out when we belch. In the same way, if we add these ideas continuously to our mind and consciousness, we naturally radiate them. They start shining through our being. When He tells you to let your intelligence be established in Him, it means that when we are in trouble, the solution should automatically come to us based upon these ideas.

As of now we run and refer to a book, which means we have a Guru only in the outer world. If we digest and enrich ourselves with these ideas, even when we don't have problems, they will lodge themselves in us and take us to higher and higher levels of completion.

When we have problems, they will guide and enrich us. If you read books only when you are in trouble or when you are seeking a solution, you will not digest the ideas because your mind will be confused. How will you receive them?

How can you digest them when you are troubled and confused? It can't happen this way. When you protect dharma, it protects you. When you excite dharma, it excites you. When you enrich dharma, it enriches you. When you are integrated to it, it is integrated into you. When you are authentic with it, it is authentic with you. When you take responsibility for it, it takes responsibility for you. Only when you enrich it, will it enrich you. Dharma means the natural law of the Cosmos. It is an independent intelligence.

When your mind is in the normal state, receive these ideas and enrich yourself and others constantly as a regular habit. Let it become your normal life style. Just as you eat and bathe everyday, in the same way, absorb these ideas regularly. Understand, from my daily morning satsangs to Inner Awakening program, and even after that, I continue to speak on the four tattvas to enrich people with this dharma. Then, is it all the same? No! It is neither the same nor is it different! It means that you are being guided deeper and deeper, layer by layer, into the same tattvas!

So, all that we take in through the five senses should be pure. Only then can we radiate purity, can we radiate bliss, can we radiate divine intelligence. Unless we purify the āhāras that is ingested through the other senses as well, we cannot expect purification of our memories.

Each one of us have mechanical parts and non mechanical parts of the brain. Mechanical parts of the brain are responsible for the functioning of your body— like the heart, lungs, liver, kidney, intestine, the functioning of your nervous system, experiencing touch, taste, seeing etc. The non-mechanical parts of your brain are responsible for the extraordinary powers—like telepathy, teleporting, vāk siddhi (the power of words, wherein any blessing given becomes a reality).

Extraordinary powers are not mythological stories or just some blind faith. I have already done enough scientific research to demonstrate the genuineness of the possibility of teleportation, telepathy and materialization.

Only when you take the responsibility, will you find the solution. I tell you, in every situation take the responsibility. You will have leadership consciousness happening in you, īśvaratva. Our brains are hardwired to experience higher possibilities and higher consciousness. It is this part that I call as non-mechanical parts of your brain.

Whether you accept it or not, understand it or not, your body carries at least seventy times more energy and power than what you use in your dayto-day life. Science has proved this through various methods and ways.

Just one small alteration in your brain can make you live without food, for months! I am not giving you any fantasy theory. I am giving you the practical experience of hundreds of my disciples who are living this through nirahara samyama.

The thoughts that you take in, play a major role in the expression of your consciousness. Just take in this one truth that Kṛṣṇa speaks of, 'Establishing your intelligence in Me.' Please understand that whatever you take in as your inputs, you establish your mind only on that. So let your inputs be purified. Let purification of your sensory inputs happen to you. Your consciousness will automatically be established in the Divine. Again and again, try to absorb these ideas. Let these ideas penetrate you.

Don't go behind ideas that make you feel low and that put you into depression. The truth will begin to enrich you from within yourself. I tell people that when the source of the words is enlightened consciousness, the words simply penetrate you and automatically come into your mind whenever you need their help. People ask me, 'Swamiji, how can we remember these ideas and practice them?' I tell them, 'Never bother remembering them.

Just listen, that's enough. These words are from my experience. So naturally they will penetrate your being.' Whenever it is necessary, you won't need to remember these words. The words will remember you. Without effort, these words will stay in you and surface.

Automatically they will come up when needed.

They will erupt into your consciousness, like a pop-up. Similar to the pop-up on your computer monitor, they come up in your consciousness and guide you. You don't need to do anything. All you need to do is authentically listen, as a means to put them into your being. Naturally your consciousness will be established in the

Divine. Kṛṣṇa says, 'Immerse your mind completely in Me. Focus your entire attention upon Me. Without a doubt you will reach the blissful state.

Impress upon the students that when we are complete with the universe, we experience ecstasy and bliss within, we don't feel we are missing anything from the outside world, then renunciation or Saanyas automatically happens.

• ❖ What is the difference between love based on time and love based on consciousness?
• ❖ How do we establish our intelligence in Krishna?
• ❖ What is the benefit of Ahara Shuddhi or purity in intake through all senses? What is īśvaratva or leadership consciousness?

Part 4: Bhagavad Gita Chapter 12

• 1. White flowers (chrysanthemums, roses or daisies would work well) Small containers or jars
• 2. Water
• 3. Food colouring Red, Yellow, Green and Blue

Let's make a quirky flower arrangement display. Fill each jar with half cup water. Add 10 drops of different food colouring to each of the jars. Take the leaves out and cut the stem of the flowers so that they can stand comfortably in the jars. Place the jars at your window sill so that they get indirect sunlight. Slight colouration of the petals starts showing within an hour. The petals acquire a prominent colour by the end of the week.

Whatever you take in as your input through your senses, your mind gets coloured in that.

The Sanskrit Shloka "āhāra śuddho satva śiddho dhruvā smṛtiḥ" translates to "When our food, is purified, our memory is purified." List out three steps you will take to ensure that your intake from each of the five senses is purified. Few examples are given below to help you get started: Sight: I will not watch movies or soap operas; Sound: I will listen to soft instrumental music or vedic chants daily; Smell: I will take bath with sandalwood soap;

Taste: I will reduce my sugar intake; and

Touch: I will practice celibacy for the first 21 years of my life.

Ahāra shuddhi means that everything we take in through the five senses should be pure. When the purification of your sensory inputs happens, our consciousness will automatically be established in the Divine.

Activation of the non-mechanical parts of our brain for acquiring superpowers is a myth unconfirmed by scientific experiments.

Extraordinary powers—like telepathy, teleporting, vāk siddhi, ability to live food free, are lying dormant within the non mechanical parts of our brain.

Authored by

THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM

atha cittaṁ samādhātuṁ na śaknoṣi mayi sthiram I abhyāsayogena tato mām icchāptuṁ dhanañjaya

If you are not able to fix your mind upon Me then Arjuna, with the constant practice of Yoga, you try to attain Me.

Complete with the mind through constant practice of meditation.

abhyāse'pyasamartho'si matkarmaparamo bhava I madarthamapi karmāṇi kurvansiddhim avāpsyasi

If you are not able to practice even this yoga then performing your duties and surrendering all your actions to Me, you will attain perfection.

Do your duty as you need to and are able to. But then, surrender what you do to Me. By performing whatever you do with total faith in Krishnan, and with a deep feeling of surrender to Him, we reach Him.

If you are not able to fix your mind upon Me, then O Dhanañjaya (Arjuna), with the constant practice of yoga you try to attain Me. If you are not able to practice even this yoga, then performing your duties and surrendering all your actions to Me, you will attain perfection.

Here Kṛṣṇa talks about Abhyāsa Yoga. What is Abhyāsa Yoga? Abhyāsa Yoga is the practice or method of yoga of holding the mind constantly in a state of union with Divinity. It is the state of complete immersion in the consciousness of Kṛṣṇa. Why does Kṛṣṇa speak about Abhyāsa Yoga? In the last chapter, Kṛṣṇa gives Arjuna a glimpse of the universal consciousness, Viśvarūpa darśan. However, Arjuna is unable to stay in that state permanently.

Arjuna comes out of the experience because of fear or old saṁskāras, root thought patterns of past desires. He slips from that state of consciousness. Therefore, Kṛṣṇa speaks about Abhyāsa Yoga, how to establish oneself in that consciousness. That's why He speaks about abhyāsa, which means practice. He gives a solid path, or a solid solution to take care of our whole life, to establish ourselves in that consciousness. Continuously, again and again, in our daily life, let us receive these ideas, intranalyze these ideas in our consciousness and let our inner space be filled with these ideas. Let us not waste a few moments.

Let our whole inner space be filled with these great thoughts. That is the way to establish us in that super consciousness. Kṛṣṇa continues to give more tips for establishing ourselves in that consciousness and radiating devotion. Kṛṣṇa instructs continuously over the next four verses. He gives various options, step-by-step.

He says: If we can't do this, do that. If we can't do that, do this. The first thing He says is, 'Oh Dhanañjaya (winner of wealth), fix your mind upon Me. With constant practice, try to attain Me. If you are not able to practice, then perform actions for Me. In this way, develop the desire to attain Me. '

Rāmakṛṣṇa Paramahamsa had advised a lady to meditate upon the form of goddess Kālī. She said that however much she tried she was unable to meditate on Kālī; she was always distracted. She came back to Rāmakṛṣṇa upset that she could make no spiritual progress. Rāmakṛṣṇa enquired whether the lady's attention was diverted to someone or something else. The lady confessed that she was thinking of a young nephew, a child, whom she was fond of. Immediately, Rāmakṛṣṇa advised her, 'Focus your attention on this child whom you love. Meditate upon him.' The lady came back after a few weeks satisfied. Having started her meditation upon the child whom she loved, she could meditate. And once she could meditate, she could transfer her focus to goddess Kālī!

That laser beam can then be transferred to any object with equal facility and success. Vivekananda has said, 'Once you learn all that there is to be known about a handful of clay by focusing your complete attention on it, you will know about all the clay everywhere in the world.'

Kṛṣṇa refers to completing with the mind through constant practice of meditation, which is part of the yogic path. Meditation is not about sitting down with eyes closed for half an hour every day or every other day or when we get time. Meditation is an incessant and obsessive focus upon the Divine. Meditation is a way of life.

Impress upon the students that when we then start focusing on the path, not the goal, we focus on the process, not the product. And when we do this, our performance gets better because we no longer are stressed by what the end result might be. We are no longer worried since the outcome is in safe hands.

• ❖ What is Abhyāsa Yoga?
• ❖ What is Meditation?
• ❖ What is the best attitude to have towards one's work and its result? Who is a Karma Yogi?
• ❖ What is the best service one can offer to the Master?

• 1. Straw
• 2. Water colour Paper
• 3. Cups
• 4. Tissue papers

Mix liquid watercolors in individual cups with water. Dip the tip of the straw in any one of the liquid watercolor cups. Then place the straw tip over a sheet of paper, so that a drop of water colour falls on the paper. Now blow the straw to move the paint around. Wash the paint of the tip of the straw by dipping in a cup of water and wiping with a tissue paper. Now repeat this process with different colors.

Let's play "Beat the Minute". It's a fast paced, race to think and name things in a given category in One Minute. One person will have to take on the role of timekeeper and scorekeeper. The timekeeper will set the stopwatch to show a 1 minute countdown. The class coordinator shall name for each participant, one item that belongs to a distinct category of items. And the participant will have to name as many items as he/she can think of belonging to the given category before the minute runs out. The number of items named will have to be counted by the score keeper. The participant naming the highest number of items in any given category will win. Better think fast, so you can Beat the Minute!

The mind can be trained. What is important is concentration. Once we learn to focus our attention completely on something, singlepointedly, we can train the mind to be like a laser beam. That laser beam can then be transferred to any object with equal facility and success.

Let the streams of colours flow in whichever direction they choose. You just focus on just repeating the process and do not worry at all about the end product. You can never go wrong with blow painting!

"Right of doership versus the Right of ownership within the concept of nonattachment to the end result.

This non-attachment and lack of expectations is the hallmark of a karma yogi. Working on the mission of the Divine is a sure guarantee to reach Divinity.

Authored by

THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM

athaitad apy aśakto'si kartuṁ madyogamāśritaḥ I sarvakarma-phalatyāgaṁ tataḥ kuru yatātmavān

If you are not able to work even this way, surrendering unto Me, give up all the results of your actions to Me without ego.

You must fix your mind upon Me alone.

If you are not able to work even this way, surrendering unto Me, give up all the results of your actions to Me without ego.

Kṛṣṇa gives various possibilities to Arjuna, one after another. His compassion for Arjuna's spiritual evolution knows no limits. He never gives up on Arjuna. 'If you cannot do this, do that. And if you cannot do that, at least do this,' Kṛṣṇa continues. In the last four verses, He continuously gives options to Arjuna. Kṛṣṇa says, 'Fix your mind upon Me alone.

Live in Me.' Then He felt that He had to give Arjuna an option, in case Arjuna could not succeed. 'If you cannot fix your mind upon Me, steadily practice and practice again,' He advised. He relented further, 'If you cannot do this repetitive practice, if this is too much for you, then work on My mission. Whatever you do, do it for Me.' Kṛṣṇa now says, 'If you are unable to do even this, which is work for My sake, then just abandon your ego and turn over the results of your actions to Me, sarva-karma-phala tyāgaṁ tataḥ kuru yatātmavān (12.11).'

Kṛṣṇa relents from His standpoint that Arjuna should work only on those activities that are Kṛṣṇa's. He feels that there may be conditions that may prevent Arjuna from devoting all his time only to those activities that are Kṛṣṇa's. See how relevant Kṛṣṇa's advice is, even by today's standards. None of us can hope to sit idle and be taken care of. We must do something to occupy ourselves. In our day-to-day reality of life, not all may be able to work on God's mission alone, all the time.

We may be able to spend only some time on activities that are selfless activities that benefit humanity overall, and activities that are spiritual.

we need to spend a lot of time on activities that are of material benefit to us and to others related to us. Nothing is lost, assures Kṛṣṇa, and He provides the bridge between material pursuits and spiritual pursuits. Kṛṣṇa brings in the core concept of the Gītā, that of 'renunciation'.

He says, 'Do what you must do with an attitude of surrender to Me and sacrifice the results of your actions to Me, with complete control over yourself, your ego.' We feel responsible for the results of our actions. Whether we succeed or fail in what we do, either proud and happy, or guilty and sad, our ego makes us feel responsible.

We identify ourselves with what we do and the results of what we do. Kṛṣṇa says, 'If you cannot do whatever else I have told you to do, do this. Drop your ego. Drop the fruits of your actions and renounce them to Me.' The freedom that results from what Kṛṣṇa advises is true liberation.

Once we realize that we no longer are the masters of our destiny, decision makers of the results of our actions, we feel a weight lifting off our shoulders. It is He who is now responsible for the results of our action. We still are the 'doers', but no longer the 'owners.' One may wonder, how can I succeed in this rat race? Remember that even if you are the winner in this rat race, you are still only a rat!

It is an illusion of our minds that we decide the results of our actions. It is pure fantasy to believe that we decide the result of our actions. We cannot even guarantee that we will survive our next breath. Our life is not in our hands. What arrogance, therefore, to imagine that activities in the outer world are subject to our control! There is a power higher than us that decides the results of our actions. Once we realize this and start believing in the wisdom of that higher power, strange and mystical things happen to us.

We just need to let the Universe, Kṛṣṇa, the Divine, decide what is best for the rest of humanity and us.

Let us surrender the results of all that we do to this sacred power. Whatever then happens to us is for the good, for our good and the good of everyone in this Universe. We are surrendering to the cosmic power that surrounds us. Without Its grace we cannot live or take our next breath. Say, 'Do what you think is best for me' with deep completion and see what happens. Not merely does the end goal materialize, but an immense spiritual relief will overtake you. 'Renounce unto Me,' says Kṛṣṇa, 'surrender yourself to Me, and I shall liberate you.'

Impress upon the students that we can bridge the gap between our material pursuits and our spiritual pursuits by adopting an attitude of renunciation and surrender of the results of all our actions to God.

• ❖ Is it possible to devote all of one's time on spiritual activities?
• ❖ Is it possible to give up material pursuits altogether?
• ❖ How will we sustain ourselves if we do not engage in worldly activities?
• ❖ How can we engage in worldly activities with surrender to Krishna?
• ❖ What does it mean to be detached from the results of our actions?

Mobile phone with camera

Discuss with the children the difference between spiritual activities and worldly activities. Get the children to act these activities. Click two photographs depicting contrasting themes: first picture to capture them doing a spiritual activity and second picture captures them doing a worldly activity. Share the images with the group.

We must engage in spiritual activities as much as possible, as such actions raise the level of our consciousness and that of all others around us.

Let us discuss the following scenario to understand how we can apply Krishna's teaching about surrendering the results of our action in real life.

Let us imagine a hypothetical situation. An important exam is coming up for your friend Rugwed. This will require Rugwed to study a big book for several hours each day for the next one month. Which of the following three approaches do you recommend for your friend:

Approach 1: Every now and then Rugwed looks at the large number of unread pages in his book and counts the few days left to go for his Exam. He feels so overwhelmed that Rugwed finds it difficult to focus on what he is reading.

Approach 2: Rugwed sets daily milestones to cover the syllabus in the available time and focus only on meeting his daily targets. He says to God "Let the result be what you think is best for me".

Approach 3: Rugwed often visualizes what will happen if he fails the exam. He thinks of all the direct and indirect consequences of not passing the exam. In order to motivate himself, Rugwed tries to imagine the appreciation he will receive if he gets good grades and the humiliation he will have to face if he fails. Fear and greed push Rugwed to keep reading.

The freedom and immense relief that results from surrendering the results of one's action to God, is liberation.

Topic of discussion: "Who decides the results of our actions?"

Kṛṣṇa provides the bridge between material pursuits and spiritual pursuits. Kṛṣṇa brings in the core concept of the Gītā, that of 'renunciation'.

Authored by

THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM

śreyo hi jñānamabhyāsāj jñānāddhyānaṁ viśiṣyate I dhyānāt karma-phala-tyāgas tyāgāc chāntir anantaram

Knowledge is better than mere practice. Meditation is superior to knowledge. Renouncing the fruit of actions is better than meditation. After renouncing the fruits of actions, one immediately attains peace.

Surrender is even better because the moment we hand over our expectations regarding results of our actions to the Divine, inner healing and peace happens.

Kṛṣṇa gives so many possibilities. Step-by-step, He gives options. Actually, these are not only for Arjuna's mind. These are for all kinds of minds.

Let me tell a small story from Ramaṇa Mahaṛṣi's life: Somebody goes to him and asks, 'Bhagavān, what spiritual technique should I use?' He says, 'Do ātmavicāra, Self-inquiry. Start questioning — Who am I?'

After a few days, the devotee comes back and says, 'It is difficult to do Self- inquiry, can I just meditate?' Bhagavān says, 'Alright, do meditation.'

After a week, the person returns and says, 'Meditation is also difficult. Can I do japa, repetition of mantra and recitation of verses?' Bhagavān says, 'Alright, do that.' A few days pass and he is back again saying, 'Japa is also difficult. Can I do pūjā, the ritual worship?' Bhagavān says, 'Alright. Do pūjā.'

Within a week the man is there asking, 'Pūjā is also difficult. Can I start going only to the temple?' Bhagavān says, 'Alright, do what you want.' Masters do not want to close the doors for anybody.

They do not give up on anybody. Please understand, they give possibilities for everybody. Here, in these verses, Kṛṣṇa deeply enriches giving options to everyone.

We need to have tremendous spontaneity to understand this. Only with spontaneity will we be able to handle these instructions. For example, if you don't feel like meditating and are in a low mood, don't try sitting in a room with closed doors, forcing yourself to meditate. Just go out, go to the temple. Spend some time freely walking and moving around. It will relax you. Then you can enter into meditation.

Part 5: Bhagavad Gita Chapter 12 - Collection_English_part_5.md

And if you are not able to do that also, do something else. Do something that helps to keep you in a relaxed mood that makes you feel relaxed. Then, you can enter into meditation.

Here, Kṛṣṇa gives step-by-step instructions up to the ultimate and last step. The last step is being in the consciousness, being in bliss. But just because you can't do that, don't stop trying altogether.

Don't give up on you. Do something enriching at least. I have seen people speak about meditation, about ātma-sādhana and all sorts of complicated things. But when it comes to practice, just thinking of meditating makes them stop their rituals, everything. In the end they do not even meditate. They say, 'I don't have enough time, Swamiji. My mind won't concentrate and I cannot sit quietly.' First they stop everything in the name of meditation. Then they drop meditation because of other reasons! Then they have neither this nor that. Kṛṣṇa doesn't want that to happen.

'आज केवल इसलिए कि मुझसे कुछ कहा गया है, मैं बदल नहीं जाऊँगा। मैं नहीं कर सकता! मैं बदलने वाला नहीं हूँ।' तब हम कभी भी सहज और पूर्ण नहीं हो सकते! हम जीवन को और इसे बुरी तरह से चूक जाएँगे।

जीवन की गुणवत्ता स्वयं को �…पडेट करती है। इसे बुद्धिमत्ता तभी कहा जा सकता है जब यह स्वयं को �…पडेट करे। बुद्धिमत्ता जीवित ऊर्जा है।

संस्कृत शब्द धी का �…र्थ है 'जो जीवित है'। संस्कृत में, बुद्धिमत्ता के लिए शब्द धी है। धी वह ऊर्जा है जो जीवित है, जो लगातार खुद को �…पडेट करती है।

सहजता के बारे में एक घटना: एक बार मैं ईशावास्य उपनिषद पर प्रवचन दे रहा था। एक बुजुर्ग व्यक्ति, जो एक पढ़ा-लिखा विद्वान लग रहा था, हॉल में दाखिल हुआ। प्रवचन के बाद, बिना किसी बुनियादी शिष्टाचार के, वह खड़ा हुआ और कहा, 'इन सभी मूर्खों ने कुछ नहीं पढ़ा है, यही कारण है कि तुम उनसे सुनवा सकते हो।

क्या तुम मुझे सुनवा सकते हो?' मैंने कहा, 'कृपया पास आइए सर। मुझे सुनाई नहीं दे रहा कि आप क्या कह रहे हैं।' जब वह पास आया तो मैंने कहा, 'कृपया इस तरफ आइए और दोहराइए कि आपने क्या कहा सर।' वह उस तरफ चला गया। फिर मैंने कहा, 'मुझे लगता है कि रास्ते में एक मेज है, कृपया दूसरी तरफ चले जाइए सर।' वह चला गया और पास आ गया। फिर मैंने कहा, 'आप पहले ही मुझे तीन बार सुन चुके हैं। �…ब बैठो और सुनो कि मुझे क्या कहना है!'

जब आपके पास सहजता होती है, तो कुछ भी आपको रोक नहीं सकता है। सहजता एक महान आध्यात्मिक गुण है। यहाँ कृष्ण चार �…लग-�…लग निर्देश देते हैं। या तो आप भक्ति योग - भक्ति मार्ग में स्वयं को स्थापित कर सकते हैं, या आध्यात्मिक दिनचर्या का एक नियमित जीवन जी सकते हैं, या कर्मों के सभी फलों को भगवान को त्याग सकते हैं, या चेतना में जी सकते हैं और कार्य कर सकते हैं। आप जो चाहें कर सकते हैं। वह कहते हैं, '�…गर यह नहीं, तो यह करो। �…गर ये नहीं, तो वो...'

किसी ने मुझसे पूछा, 'स्वामीजी, हमारे पास भारत या पूर्वी धर्मों में इतने सारे देवता क्यों हैं?' सभी पूर्वी धर्मों में कई देवता हैं, चाहे आप हिंदू धर्म, बौद्ध धर्म या जैन धर्म पर विचार करें। उन सभी के कई देवता, कई संत और कई गुरु हैं, जबकि पश्चिमी धर्मों में केवल एक भगवान है। क्यों?'

विवेकानंद इसे एक प्रवचन में खूबसूरती से रखते हैं। स्वतंत्रता विकास के लिए बुनियादी शर्त है। किसी भी क्षेत्र में, यदि विकास होना है, तो स्वतंत्रता बुनियादी शर्त है। पूर्व में उनके पास आंतरिक स्वतंत्रता थी।

यहाँ कोई भी आपके धर्म में खलल नहीं डालता है। आध्यात्मिक �…भ्यास एक विकल्प है। इसीलिए हमारे पास इष्टदेवता की �…वधारणा है, आपके पसंदीदा देवता। इष्टदेवता का �…र्थ है कि आप जिस भी रूप की पूजा कर सकते हैं जो आपके मन के �…नुकूल हो।

शास्त्रों में 330 मिलियन देवताओं, देवताओं या देवताओं का उल्लेख है। वास्तव में मुझे लगता है कि उस समय शायद यही जनसंख्या का आकार था! वे चाहते थे कि प्रत्येक व्यक्ति का �…पना �…नुकूलित देवता हो। इसीलिए वे कहते हैं कि 330 मिलियन देवता! यदि शास्त्र �…ब लिखे जाने वाले होते, तो वे कहते छह �…रब देवता।

प्रत्येक को �…पना मार्ग और �…पने स्वयं के देवता को चुनने की स्वतंत्रता है। प्रत्येक को खुद को भगवान मानने की स्वतंत्रता है क्योंकि वह �…पने भीतर दिव्यता का एहसास करता है।

लोगों के पास आंतरिक स्वतंत्रता है, यही कारण है कि पूर्व आध्यात्मिक रूप से इतना विकसित हुआ है। पश्चिम में, आपके पास �…पना देवता नहीं हो सकता। भारत में, कोई भी रातोंरात खुद को संत घोषित कर सकता है। पूर्व की स्वतंत्रता में, कई �…च्छी चीजें होती हैं। उस स्वतंत्रता के कारण आंतरिक दुनिया में जबरदस्त शोध हुआ।

आंतरिक दुनिया में बहुत शोध किया गया है और आंतरिक दुनिया से संबंधित कई सच्चाइयों को प्रकाश में लाया गया है, मानवता के लिए लाया गया है, क्योंकि इतने सारे लोग इसमें प्रवेश कर चुके हैं। हमेशा कुछ नकली होंगे। जब इतने लाखों लोग मार्ग लेते हैं, और इतने लाखों चीजें व्यक्त की जाती हैं, तो एक या दो �…ंधविश्वास भी आ जाते हैं।

आप सोच सकते हैं कि �…ंधविश्वास केवल आध्यात्मिकता के संबंध में मौजूद हैं। विज्ञान में बहुत �…धिक �…ंधविश्वास मौजूद हैं। कम से कम आध्यात्मिकता में आचार्यों का किसी चीज की घोषणा करने में कोई निहित स्वार्थ नहीं होता है। उनके निजी जीवन में कुछ भी महत्वपूर्ण नहीं जोड़ा जाएगा। वे �…भी भी केवल उतना ही खाने वाले हैं और कपड़ों के केवल उतने ही टुकड़े पहनने वाले हैं।

लेकिन जब वैज्ञानिकों की बात आती है, तो वे जो कुछ भी घोषित करते हैं, वह उन्हें नाम और प्रसिद्धि, पैसा और उनके जीवन में �…तिरिक्त आराम देने वाला है। तो स्वाभाविक रूप से उनके निहित स्वार्थ होते हैं। आध्यात्मिक लोगों के साथ, वे जितना �…धिक त्याग करते हैं और बाहरी दुनिया के सुखों का जितना कम आनंद लेते हैं, उतना ही उनका सम्मान किया जाता है। तो स्वाभाविक रूप से, वे जो कुछ भी सत्य घोषित करते हैं, वे जो कुछ भी शोध करते हैं, वे उनके निजी जीवन में कुछ भी नया नहीं जोड़ेंगे। उन्हें जो सम्मान दिया जाता है, वह उनके जीवन पर आधारित होता है, न कि उनके शब्दों पर। वैज्ञानिकों के साथ, यह उनके शब्दों पर आधारित है। इसलिए विज्ञान में, आध्यात्मिकता की तुलना में �…ंधविश्वास की �…धिक संभावना है।

और जब �…धिक से �…धिक लोग इस आध्यात्मिक जीवन को �…पनाते हैं, तो हमेशा एक या दो �…ंधविश्वास होंगे जिसके परिणामस्वरूप। केवल इस कारण से, हम यह नहीं कह सकते कि धार्मिक स्वतंत्रता या आध्यात्मिक स्वतंत्रता गलत है। इसमें बहुत कुछ �…च्छा भी है।

किसी भी विकास के लिए स्वतंत्रता एक बुनियादी आवश्यकता है। यहाँ, इन चार विकल्पों के साथ, कृष्ण हमारे लिए आध्यात्मिक स्वतंत्रता व्यक्त कर रहे हैं। वह कहते हैं कि इतने सारे मार्ग हैं, और हमें �…पनी मानसिकता के �…नुकूल कोई भी एक चुनने और कम से कम एक विकल्प का �…भ्यास करने के लिए कहते हैं। यह इतना महत्वपूर्ण नहीं है कि हम कौन सा विकल्प चुनते हैं। यह केवल आवश्यक है कि हम कुछ चुनें!

यहाँ कृष्ण �…र्जुन को चुनने की आध्यात्मिक स्वतंत्रता देते हैं और निश्चित रूप से, न केवल �…र्जुन को, बल्कि �…र्जुन के माध्यम से, हम सभी को। यदि आप भक्ति योग के नियमों का �…भ्यास नहीं कर सकते हैं, तो मेरे लिए काम करने की कोशिश करें क्योंकि मेरे लिए काम करने से, आप खुद को समृद्ध करेंगे और परिपूर्ण �…वस्था में आएंगे।

फिर एक-एक करके वह सभी समृद्ध विकल्पों को देता है और �…ंत में कहता है, 'यदि आप खुद को समृद्ध करने के लिए इन प्रथाओं का पालन नहीं कर सकते हैं, तो ज्ञान की खेती में खुद को व्यस्त करें।' वह कहते हैं, 'कम से कम जीवन के इन सभी समाधानों को इकट्ठा करें।'

ज्ञान की खेती का �…र्थ है जीवन के रहस्यों के समाधानों को इकट्ठा करना, जैसे कि �…वसाद से कैसे बचें, �…धिक साहसी कैसे बनें, मजबूत कैसे बनें, कैसे �…वांछित इच्छाओं से बचें और भावनात्मक �…वरोधों को कैसे रोकें। इस तरह का ज्ञान जिसे आप जीवन समाधान के रूप में एकत्र कर सकते हैं, आपकी मदद और रक्षा कर सकता है। संयुक्त राज्य �…मेरिका में, आपको भूकंप किट के बारे में सिखाया जाता है, कि पानी की बोतलें और �…न्य महत्वपूर्ण सुरक्षा चीजें किट का हिस्सा होनी चाहिए। पश्चिमी समाज लोगों को इन आकस्मिकताओं के लिए तैयार करता है। लेकिन हमें लोगों को उन भूकंपों का सामना करने के लिए भी तैयार करने की आवश्यकता है जो भीतर होते हैं, भावनात्मक �…संतुलन जो भीतर होते हैं।

भूकंप की तैयारी करने की तरह, किसी को आंतरिक भूकंप किट से लैस होने की आवश्यकता है। इस आंतरिक भूकंप किट को मैं 'जीवन समाधान' या ज्ञान कहता हूँ। इन चीजों को �…भी इकट्ठा करें ताकि जब आप �…वसाद का सामना करें, तो आप तैयार रहेंगे। हम सभी किसी न किसी समय आंतरिक भूकंप का सामना करेंगे।

�…पनी कार में एक बाहरी भूकंप किट और �…पने दिल में एक आंतरिक भूकंप किट रखें।

हमारे पास �…पनी कारों में एक भूकंप किट और �…पने दिलों या आंतरिक स्थान में एक आंतरिक भूकंप किट हो सकती है। आंतरिक भूकंपों को कभी भी हल्के में न लें। आंतरिक भूकंपों को हल्के में लेने का मतलब है कि हम �…ज्ञानता से काम कर रहे हैं। जब बाहरी दुनिया में भूकंप आते हैं, तो हम किसी को दोष दे सकते हैं और जिम्मेदारी से छुटकारा पा सकते हैं। लेकिन जब आंतरिक दुनिया की बात आती है, तो हम किसी को भी दोष नहीं दे सकते। हममें से प्रत्येक को �…पने और �…पने आसपास होने वाली हर चीज की जिम्मेदारी लेनी चाहिए।

आपको स्वयं को ऊपर उठाने में मदद करनी चाहिए। आपको स्वयं को स्वयं ही उठाना चाहिए। यदि आप स्वयं को ऊपर उठाने में मदद कर सकते हैं, तो आप �…पने सबसे �…च्छे दोस्त हैं। �…न्यथा आप �…पने सबसे बड़े दुश्मन हैं।

वह समृद्ध संभावनाएं देता है, विभिन्न मार्गों में जैसे �…भ्यास करना, ज्ञान की खेती करना, ध्यान करना या कर्मों के फलों का त्याग करना, कर्म फल त्याग। इन मार्गों में से, एक दूसरे से बेहतर है। सबसे पहले, वह उल्लेख करते हैं कि ध्यान का मार्ग, ध्यान ज्ञान से बेहतर है, ज्ञानाद् ध्यानं विशिष्यते। ध्यान से बेहतर है हर चीज को भगवान के चरणों में �…र्पित करना—ध्यानात् कर्म फल त्यागः। वह कहते हैं कि कर्मों के फलों के त्याग से तत्काल शांति प्राप्त की जा सकती है—त्यागाच् छांतिर् �…नंतरम् (12.12)।

जब हम जो करते हैं उस पर स्वामित्व का त्याग करते हैं और स्वामित्व को दिव्य को सौंप देते हैं, तो शांति और आनंद हम पर उतर आते हैं। जो हम करते हैं उसके परिणामों के प्रति आसक्ति छोड़ने में सच्ची मुक्ति है। यह मुक्ति किसी भी प्रकार की �…पेक्षाएँ न रखने से आती है। हम �…पने कर्मों के परिणामों से �…लग हो जाते हैं। यह हमें वर्तमान क्षण में पूर्णता में, जो हमारे हाथ में है उस पर पूरी तरह से ध्यान केंद्रित करने की �…नुमति देता है। पूर्णता के स्थान पर रहना ही शांति, आनंद, मुक्ति या मोक्ष है।

छात्रों पर यह छाप छोड़ें कि जो हम हाथ में कर रहे हैं उस पर पूरी तरह से ध्यान केंद्रित करना सबसे �…च्छा है यानी वर्तमान क्षण में।

• भारत या पूर्वी धर्मों में हमारे पास इतने सारे देवता क्यों हैं?
• सामाजिक स्वतंत्रता क्या है?
• आंतरिक स्वतंत्रता क्या है?
• �…पने कर्मों के परिणामों से जुड़े रहने में क्या कमी है?
• जो हमारे हाथ में है उस पर पूरी तरह से ध्यान केंद्रित करने का क्या लाभ है यानी वर्तमान क्षण में?

• 1. कागज
• 2. पेंट
• 3. थाली
• 4. सिलाई का धागा।

एक प्लेट पर �…लग-�…लग पेंट के धब्बे लगाएं। प्रत्येक धागे को �…लग-�…लग रंग के पेंट के धब्बे में डुबोएं। फिर कागज की एक शीट पर एक धागा बिछाएं। कागज को आधा मोड़ें। एक हाथ से मुड़े हुए कागज को नीचे दबाएं और दूसरे हाथ से धागे को बाहर निकालें। एक �…द्वितीय पैटर्न खोजने के लिए कागज को खोलें। �…लग-�…लग रंगों में डूबे धागों का उपयोग करके पैटर्न को दोहराएं।

सहज रहें। जो आप कर रहे हैं उस पर पूरी तरह से ध्यान केंद्रित करें। धागा पेंटिंग के परिणाम हमेशा �…द्वितीय और आश्चर्यजनक होते हैं।

पांच (5) गतिविधियों को सूचीबद्ध करें जिन्हें आप जानते हैं कि आपके मूड को बेहतर बनाने और हमेशा आपको बेहतर महसूस कराने के निश्चित तरीके हैं।

�…पने कामकाज को �…भी जान लें ताकि जब आप �…वसाद का सामना करें, तो आप तैयार रहेंगे।

चर्चा का विषय "ज्ञान से बेहतर है ध्यान"

यदि आप स्वयं को ऊपर उठाने में मदद कर सकते हैं, तो आप �…पने सबसे �…च्छे दोस्त हैं। �…न्यथा आप �…पने सबसे बड़े दुश्मन हैं।

लेखक द्वारा

THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM

�…द्वेष्टा सर्वभूतानां मैत्रः करुण एव च । निर्ममो निरहङ्कारः समदुःखसुखः क्षमी

वह जो किसी भी प्राणी के लिए नापसंद या ईर्ष्या नहीं करता है, जो हर किसी के लिए मित्रवत और दयालु है, मैं और मेरा की भावना से मुक्त है, �…हंकार, मन की समता बनाए रखता है, खुशी और दुख दोनों में,

एक व्यक्ति जो �…हंकार से मुक्त है, जो चिंता, चिंता और चिड़चिड़ापन से मुक्त है, जिसने �…पने लक्ष्यों या धन की निरर्थकता को समझ लिया है, वह कृष्ण को प्रिय है।

संतुष्टः सततं योगी यतात्मा दृढ़निश्चयः । मयि �…र्पित-मनोबुद्धिर्यो मद्भक्तः स मे प्रियः क्षमाशील, सदा संतुष्ट, योग से संयुक्त, मुझ पर दृढ़ प्रतिबद्धता रखता है और �…पना मन और बुद्धि मुझ पर स्थिर रखता है, ऐसा मेरा भक्त बहुत

मुझे प्रिय है।

एक व्यक्ति जो क्षमा में स्थापित है, जो मन की समता बनाए रखता है, जो कृष्ण पर विश्वास करता है, जो �…पनी आध्यात्मिक जागृति के लिए प्रतिबद्ध है, जो संतुष्ट है और योग से संयुक्त है, वह कृष्ण को प्रिय है।

वह जो किसी भी प्राणी के लिए नापसंद या ईर्ष्या नहीं करता है, जो हर किसी के लिए मित्रवत और दयालु है, मैं और मेरा की भावना से मुक्त है, �…हंकार, मन की समता बनाए रखता है, खुशी और दुख दोनों में, क्षमाशील, सदा संतुष्ट, योग से संयुक्त, मुझ पर दृढ़ प्रतिबद्धता रखता है और �…पना मन और बुद्धि मुझ पर स्थिर रखता है, ऐसा मेरा भक्त बहुत मुझे प्रिय है।

पिछले सभी श्लोकों में, कृष्ण �…र्जुन को ऐसा करने या वैसा करने के लिए कहते हैं। �…ब, वह यह नहीं कह रहे हैं कि ऐसा करो या वैसा करो। वह कहते हैं, 'जो लोग ये सब काम करते हैं वे मुझे बहुत प्रिय हैं। यदि आप ये नहीं करते हैं, तो वह भी ठीक है। हालाँकि, यदि आप उन्हें करते हैं, तो आप मुझे बहुत प्रिय होंगे यो मद्भक्तः स मे प्रियः।' दूसरे शब्दों में, यह भावनात्मक ब्लैकमेल है, सीधे नहीं बल्कि �…प्रत्यक्ष रूप से, लेकिन सभी �…च्छे कारण के लिए!

'जो ईर्ष्या नहीं करता है, बल्कि सभी जीवित प्राणियों का एक दयालु मित्र है, जो स्वयं को स्वामी के रूप में नहीं सोचता है, और जो झूठे �…हंकार से मुक्त है, जो सुख और दुख दोनों में समान है, जो सहनशील है, हमेशा संतुष्ट है, आत्म-नियंत्रित है, और दृढ़ संकल्प के साथ भक्ति सेवा में लगा हुआ है, बुद्धि मुझ पर स्थिर है, ऐसा मेरा भक्त मुझे बहुत प्रिय है।'

कृष्ण कहते हैं, 'जो ईर्ष्या नहीं करता है और हर जीवित प्राणी का एक दयालु मित्र है।' ये महत्वपूर्ण गुण हैं

आइए हम �…पने मन का विश्लेषण करें। जब हम ईमानदारी से �…पने मन का विश्लेषण करते हैं, तो हमें एहसास होता है कि �…गर कोई आपके पास आता है और कहता है कि वह आपसे प्यार करता है, तो आप इस पर विश्वास नहीं करेंगे। सबसे पहले आप यह पता लगाएंगे कि वह आपसे क्या चाहता है। आपको विश्वास नहीं है कि आप प्यार किए जाने के योग्य हैं। �…गला, आपको विश्वास नहीं है कि कोई ईमानदारी से आपसे प्यार कर सकता है, क्योंकि आप ईमानदारी से किसी से प्यार नहीं करते हैं। क्योंकि आप गणनात्मक हैं, इसलिए आप उम्मीद करते हैं कि दूसरा व्यक्ति भी गणनात्मक होगा। हमारा सारा प्यार सतही है और आप जानते हैं कि त्वचा कितनी गहरी है! यहाँ, वह कहते हैं, 'एक व्यक्ति जो हर किसी का एक दयालु मित्र है, जो ईमानदारी से सेवा करता है, हर किसी में मित्रता महसूस करता है और झूठे �…हंकार से मुक्त है।' �…ब हमें 'झूठे �…हंकार, �…हंकार' शब्द को समझना चाहिए।

�…हंकार का मतलब केवल वह दिखाना नहीं है जो आपके पास नहीं है, बल्कि वह छुपाना भी है जो आपके पास है। �…हंकार दो प्रकार के होते हैं: सक्रिय �…हंकार और निष्क्रिय �…हंकार। सक्रिय �…हंकार वह दिखाना है जो आपके पास है और निष्क्रिय �…हंकार इन विचारों से चित्रित किया गया है,

'ओह, मैं क्या कर सकता हूँ, मैं एक साधारण व्यक्ति हूँ, मैं कुछ भी हासिल नहीं कर सकता, और मैं कुछ भी नहीं कर सकता।' स्वयं को छुपाना निष्क्रिय �…हंकार का परिणाम है। हीनता की भावना निष्क्रिय �…हंकार की �…भिव्यक्ति है।

कम से कम श्रेष्ठता की भावना के बारे में एक सकारात्मक बात है। श्रेष्ठता की भावना के साथ, कोई भी जहाँ भी जाता है, उसे समाज से बड़ी मार मिलती है। लेकिन हीनता की भावना के साथ, समाज आपको सुधारने का प्रयास नहीं करता है। यह जीवन से खुद को छुपाने का एक चालाक तरीका है।

आपको यह भी पता नहीं चलेगा कि आपको कोई समस्या है। एक व्यक्ति जो नाम और प्रसिद्धि की तलाश में है, और एक व्यक्ति जो नाम और प्रसिद्धि नहीं चाहता है, दोनों ही �…हंकारी हैं। यदि आप नाम मांगते हैं, तो आप �…हंकारी हैं। और यदि आप नहीं करते हैं, तो यह निष्क्रिय �…हंकार दिखाता है।

जबकि एक व्यक्ति जो चीजों को होने देता है और एक व्यक्ति जो चीजों को बहने देता है, वास्तविकता में रहता है। कृष्ण टिप्पणी करते हैं, 'आखिरकार, कौन जानने वाला है कि तुम कौन हो? तुम क्यों सोचते हो कि तुम एक बड़े व्यक्ति हो और तुम्हारा नाम इतना महान है और हर कोई तुम्हारा नाम जानता है? तुम सोचते हो कि तुम महान हो, इसलिए तुम नाम और प्रसिद्धि नहीं चाहते हो। कोई तुम्हारा नाम नहीं जानता, आराम करो।'

कृष्ण स्पष्ट रूप से कहते हैं। कोई हमारा नाम नहीं जानता। नाम और प्रसिद्धि मांगना और कहना, 'मैं नाम और प्रसिद्धि नहीं चाहता,' �…हंकार के विभिन्न पहलू हैं, �…हंकार की विभिन्न किस्में हैं। हीन �…हंकार भी �…हंकार है, यही कारण है कि वह कहते हैं 'झूठा �…हंकार'। आपको न केवल �…हंकार से मुक्त होना चाहिए, बल्कि आपको झूठे �…हंकार से भी मुक्त होना चाहिए। आपको हीनता के भावों में खुद को नहीं छुपाना चाहिए।

A master tells a disciple, 'Please press my feet.' The disciple says, 'Oh, I am a sinner, how can I touch Your feet?' He does not want to do it because he is lazy. So he says, 'I am a great sinner. I am impure. How can I touch Your feet; how can I do that?' Later, a devotee brought fruits and prasād, offerings. The master put a little in his mouth and left the rest. The next day, he saw nothing on the plate. He asked his disciple, 'What happened to the fruits and prasād?' The disciple answered, 'It was guru prasād, offering to the master. I could not let it go for a waste. I finished the whole thing because it was guru prasād.'

Look at the mind, how nicely it handles different situations! Wherever we want, we insert whatever is convenient. The moment you understand the futility of your goal and wealth, that nothing is going to be with you forever, all of these divine qualities radiate through your being.

You will be transformed into a person who is established in forgivingness, who maintains equanimity of mind, who is satisfied and united with yoga. Actually, when you are blissful inside, you radiate these qualities. A man who is totally blissful inside radiates pleasantness for absolutely no reason.

We continuously carry a sense of slight irritation in our being; we are waiting to pounce on people. We don't know what we are doing. We jump and bite people at the slightest provocation, because we carry some irritation pattern within us. We continuously vomit upon others the suffering and misery that we feel.

This irritation pattern arises within us out of constant worry, inner chatter because of incompletions. We feel we may not get what we are planning for and what we want. Worry arises as a result of the gap between what we expect and what we think we are capable of getting.

Worry is futile because there are many factors other than our capability that determine the outcome of what we do.

We cannot control even our own breath. We cannot say with certainty whether we will take the next breath.

What arrogance it is then to think that we can determine our future or the outcome of our actions! Worry and irritation are pointless and make you powerless. Worry, anxiety and irritation dissolve once we settle into the present, the space of completion. Only in the present are we in a position to influence our actions and the immediate outcome of those actions. When we settle into the present, thoughts cease and worry and irritation disappear.

We realize how irrelevant, unproductive and inauthentic worry is. Only how consciously you live, with what consciousness you choose to live remains with you. Only the consciousness of completion remains with you. When you understand the importance of your state of being, you automatically start radiating pleasantness and joy.

One more thing you should know is that imagination and visualization are two different things. Imagination translates into kalpanā in Saṃskṛit, while visualization translates into bhāvanā. Bhāvanā is different from kalpanā. Kalpanā means imagining things that are not there.

For example, if you think of an elephant with ten trunks, that is imagination, kalpanā, that which is not there. But bhāvanā means visualizing that which is present but maybe eluding you.

If you sit during the day and visualize stars in the sky, that is not imagination.It is visualization. Because stars are in the sky even though you are unable to see them.

So visualizing stars is not imagination. Perceiving what is there but what you are unable to see at this moment is visualization. Trying to perceive what can never exist is imagination. So understand

that meditating on gods and goddesses is not imagination. It is visualization. They are there. You cannot see them; that is all. You are supposed to fall in tune with them, like tuning your television. Similarly, visualization is tuning yourself.

'Such a devotee of mine is very dear to Me, yo mad-bhaktaḥ sa me priyaḥ.' Kṛṣṇa says that if somebody lives in this manner, that devotee is close to Him. He doesn't say 'Do or don't do.' He does not want to make more rules. He is tired of making rules. He has reached a point where his attitude is, 'If you can, do it, otherwise, what can be done?' He is in a relaxed mood.

I think this happens to all masters. After some time they say, 'Alright, do whatever you want, what can be done?' They can guide or show you only to a certain extent. Beyond that if masters persist, people start thinking that the masters have some vested interest in making people enlightened.

Masters just share to enrich with what they have, out of completion, joy and bliss. You are not ready to trust the Master. You keep resisting Him.

When the Master says drop 'I and mine,' people are afraid that the Master may pick them up and take it with him! People are suspicious. That is why Masters sometimes say, 'This is the right way, but do as you want to do.'' One who has fixed his mind and intellect upon me, mayy arpita mano buddhir (12.14),' says Kṛṣṇa.

It is difficult for the devotee and disciple to have this attitude of surrender to the Master or the Universe. As long as things go the way the person wants, as long as the Master allows the devotee to do what he wishes, the Master is a great master and worthy of celebration. But once the Master turns serious and takes up his responsibility of spiritual surgery on the disciple, he wants to run away.

I tell people, 'Decide well in advance whether I am your right Master or not.'

-THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM

A Master takes his responsibilities seriously. His major responsibility is surgery; it is the surgery of the cancer of ego. Once the disciple makes a commitment, the Master makes his commitment too. It is dangerous to run away from the operating table. You lose your whole life by running away. You may have to wait many births before you get another chance.

Here, Kṛṣṇa is in the same mood and He says, 'Such a devotee of Mine is dear to Me,' that's all. He is talking about the commitment that the devotee makes to Him. He says, 'One who makes that commitment to Me and fixes his mind and intellect upon Me, he is dear to Me and will be liberated.' So says the great Master of the Universe.

Impress upon the students that dropping both the Egos i.e. Superiority Complex and Inferiority Complex is very important to make spiritual progress.

• ❖ What is Ego?

• ❖ What is the difference between active ego and passive ego?

• ❖ What causes irritation in the inner space?

• ❖ What is the root cause of worry?

• ❖ What is bhāvanā (visualization) and how is it different from Kalpanā (imagination)?

• 1. Turmeric
• 2. powder water

Mix turmeric powder with a little water to make a dough. Make a small idol of Ganesha. Decorate your Ganesha as best as you like. Visualize that your Ganesha is alive and interacts with you in your inner space. Have a friendly chat with your Ganesha while you offer light, fragrance, flowers and/or food offerings to him.

Meditating on gods and goddesses is not imagination. It is visualization. Perceiving what is there but what you are unable to see at this moment is visualization. Gods are there. You cannot see them; that is all. You are supposed to fall in tune with them, like tuning your television. Visualization of Gods and Goddesses is tuning yourself to higher truths.

Let us practice the technique of radiating pleasantness and friendliness. From morning till night whenever you remember, inhale, inhale, and inhale only the pleasant qualities of bliss. Visualize you are inhaling bliss and exhaling bliss. Your whole being will be filled with joy. In the beginning you will be visualizing, imagining. Just continuously visualize inhaling and exhaling bliss. Visualise prāṇa – the life giving energy—going inside and coming out. But in a few days you will realize it is your quality.

So whenever you inhale, visualize yourself inhaling bliss. When you exhale, visualize yourself exhaling bliss. Inhale light and exhale light. Think that your whole body is a bean bag filled with light. Imagine your body is a bean bag filled with bliss and light. You will automatically start radiating bliss instead of irritation. Instead of vomiting the poison of anger and jealousy on others, you will radiate love and bliss.

Prāṇa is energy and bliss. Prāṇa is not merely air. Prāṇa is the energy that goes through air. For example, a truck comes up to your house and unloads luggage and leaves. The truck is air and the luggage is prāṇa. Using air as a medium, prāṇa enters. Prāṇaśakti is the subtle part of air. Prāṇaśakti is bliss energy, ānanda-śakti. On retaining the state of completion within your being, you automatically start radiating pleasantness and joy.

Topic of discussion is "Why do disciples run from the Master when he does surgery on their Ego or inauthenticity?"

We resist the Master when he asks us to drop our sense of "me" (Identity) and "mine" (possession). However, committing to the Master and fixing the mind and intellect upon God is critical for our spiritual growth and expansion.

Authored by

THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM

Part 6: Bhagavad Gita Chapter 12

yasmānnodvijate loko lokānnodvijate ca yaḥ I harṣāmarṣabha-yodvegair mukto yaḥ sa ca me priyaḥ

He, by whom the world is not affected adversely, and who in turn does not affect the world adversely, and he, who is free from joy, anger, and anxiety, he is dear to Me.

The people who are expressing from their core, are unaffected by the happenings around them. For them, all the external happenings have become a divine play, a līlā. And He sees that the play exists in Him and He does not exist in the play. Such a person is dear to Krishna.

Kṛṣṇa says, 'He who is not affected adversely or agitated by the world and who in turn does not affect or cause agitation in this world, is dear to Him.' Only the person who is centered on his being, centered on the Ultimate consciousness, does not create havoc in the world. Just by being in the presence of an enlightened person, our minds calm down. We become steady. I can say that not only is the world not adversely affected by such persons, the world is blessed by their presence.

Once a person realizes that they are one with the Divine and all of Existence, how can there be any fight? How can there be any drama? There can't be! There is only the experience of intense love and compassion on its own and towards all beings. How can there be any small enjoyments or agitations when someone is continuously experiencing eternal bliss? It is impossible. For the enlightened one, it has all become a divine play, a līlā. And He sees that the play exists in Him and not that He exists in the play.

Kṛṣṇa says that the persons who are expressing from their core, unaffected by the happenings around them, are dear to Him because they are centered on Him —mukto yaḥ sa ca me priyaḥ. For most of us, that isn't the case. We live on the periphery of our incomplete personalities and make a mess of things creating more and more incompletions wherever we go.

To most of us, joy is a period between experiences of sorrow and unhappiness. It is like a period of quiet between two battles that we call peace, just as impermanent and just as unreal.

Joy and temporal pleasure from sensory experiences invariably lead to sorrow. Joy is the by-product of fulfillment, of an expectation. When the expectation is fulfilled the first time, we feel happy.

Most likely, this may not happen the next time around. So instead of joy, sorrow follows. Joy can only be experienced internally if it is to be long lasting. Such joy is more accurately called bliss. Bliss is eternal, unlike joy, which is transient. Bliss is eternal. It arises when we drop expectation, when we stay centered on our being, when we are in the space of completion, the mood and mode of non- attachment.

When Kṛṣṇa refers to a state of not being in joy, He refers to this temporary transient joy, which is a by-product of our desires, the joy that comes and goes. It is powered by our illusions and fantasies. Only when one goes beyond this joy with its peaks and valleys can one truly reach a blissful state. Both joy and sorrow must be transcended for us to experience bliss.

If we close our eyes and try to focus on an object or event, after a few seconds we see that we can't continue. No thought or idea can control our inner space eternally. Always there is another thought that comes along to replace the last thought. This is the inner chatter of our mind. Buddha refers to it as the 'monkey mind.'

This chatter is the constant jumping of our mind between past and future. It is the journey that our mind undertakes between that it has experienced and stored as incomplete memories and the unknown, which is full of expectations and speculations, also based upon the past. This jumping, this journey, is what we call thoughts.

Anxiety builds as our ego realizes that what it desires may not happen. This loss of something that has not even happened, the product of pure speculation, causes intense emotions within us. Anxiety lives and breeds in thoughts about the future. Its source is our ego.

Ego creates expectations. Expectations related to 'I' and 'mine', 'identity' and 'possession' create the fear that what is expected may not happen. To move out of anxiety, we must move into the present moment of completion. That is the only point at which our inner chatter stops and anxiety disappears.

When Kṛṣṇa says, 'He who is without anxiety will reach Me,' He says that he who is in the present moment will reach Me. In the present moment our thoughts cease and we are in the space of completion, and we can see with clarity the truth of our Existence, Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and then we are one with Him. 'Let go of anger,' says Kṛṣṇa. 'He who is without anger shall reach Me.' By the literal understanding of this verse, none of us can reach Kṛṣṇa. All of us express anger at one time or another. Anger is a positive energy. Expressing anger can be positive, both for the person expressing the anger and the one receiving it. This may sound strange but it is true.

Anger is often the product of guilt. We move into a defensive position. We feel guilty when we realize we did wrong. But instead of completing with that action, we become angry.

In a sense, this anger is also directed at ourselves. The guilt we feel is the result of the internal rage against our own weakness. Guilt is the biggest sin we commit. Whatever we do at a point in time, we do with the knowledge and awareness we possess at that time. Once we have done what we have done, there is nothing within our power to change it.

We should learn to direct anger at issues and take responsibility for the issue rather than directing anger at people. When anger rises against people, divert it to issues instead of towards a person. The person is only the perceived cause as you see it. Anger breeds anger. It is a vicious cycle.

If however, we express anger and express it fully against the incident, event, or issue, without personalizing it, we can let go of that anger without harm to others and us. It is possible. You need to practice, that's all. When the emotive memory of that anger is expressed, the memory dissolves and we experience completion with that emotion. Over a period of time, the anger disappears even before it rises. Kṛṣṇa says that one must reach this 'state beyond anger' in order to be able to reach Him.

Impress upon the students that once you let go of joy, anxiety and anger, once you transcend these emotions, you reach a state of calmness that takes you close to God.

• ❖ What is Joy?
• ❖ What is Bliss?
• ❖ What is the difference between Joy and Bliss?
• ❖ What is the root cause of Anxiety?
• ❖ What is the root cause of Guilt?
• ❖ What is Anger? Is it better to direct Anger at issues rather than at people? What is the danger in controlling anger within and appearing calm externally?

paper, pencil, acrylic paints, brush, water.

Let's do a painting that expresses the message "protected", or "shielded". Put a few drops of randomly spaced color paint in a row at the top edge of the page. Let the color paint to drip down your painting, by holding the page upright or horizontal to the ground. Once you've dripped one color a few times, bringing other vibrant color to your sheet. Then Paint an umbrella in the color of your choice! You may customize your painting by adding the image or words representing an object or idea under the umbrella that you wish to protect.

The people who are expressing from their core, are unaffected by the chaos around them.

Let us discover the "Monkey Mind". Close your eyes and try to focus on an object or event. You will see that after a few seconds you can't continue. No thought or idea can remain in our inner space eternally. Immediately another thought that comes along to replace the last thought.

This is the inner chatter of our mind referred to as the 'monkey mind.' This chatter is the constant jumping of our mind between past and future. It is the journey that our mind undertakes between what it has experienced and stored as incomplete memories and the unknown, which is full of expectations and speculations, also based upon the past.

This jumping, this journey, is what we call thoughts.

Now drop your monkey mind at the feet of the Master and move into the present moment of completion.

The state of completion, which happens from unclutching from all thoughts, is the only point at which our inner chatter stops and peace prevails.

Topic of discussion: Anger is a positive energy"

Expressing anger can be positive, both for the person expressing the anger and the one receiving it, if it is not a by-product of guilt and if it is not personalized i.e. if it can be directed and fully expressed against the issues instead of any person.

Authored by

THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM

anapekṣaḥ śucirdakṣaḥ udāsīno gatavyathaḥ I sarvārambhaparityāgī yo madbhaktaḥ sa me priyaḥ

He, who is free from wants, who is pure and skilled, unconcerned, untroubled, who is selfless in whatever he does, he who is devoted to Me, he is dear to Me.

Become free from wants, be selfless and you shall be untroubled, liberated and you will reach Krishna.

He who is free from wants, who is pure and skilled, unconcerned, untroubled, who is selfless in whatever he does, he who is devoted to Me, he is dear to Me. Kṛṣṇa now moves into higher gear. Once you let go of joy, anxiety and anger, once you transcend these emotions, you reach a state of calmness that takes you close to Him.

Now, He moves from 'nissaṇgatvaṁ' to 'nirmohatvaṁ,' from emotional non- attachment to non-attachment to desires. We need to understand the difference between 'wants' and 'needs'. Needs are necessary for us to survive on planet Earth, like the basic needs of food, shelter, etc. The great Jain master Māhāvira says, 'The moment you are born on this planet, the Universe sends everything with you that you need.' We just need to trust the Universe and we shall get what we need to live. We shall not want anything else. However, we end up seeking more.

Basic needs are no longer enough. Everything we have is a match for what others have. It is a constant cycle of 'What next? What next?' Even before we start enjoying what we have got, we make a plan to get more. There is no joy in having, the joy is in chasing. There is no end point to this chase. When you become the richest in your family, you need to become the richest on the street and then the richest in the town, then the richest in the country and then the richest in the world.

There is no end. Wants are endless. Wants are suffering. Wants are born out of comparison with others. Needs, our basic needs, carry the energy within them for fulfillment. Wants only carry the seeds of our own suffering.

In one of the sessions, people are asked to make a list of their desires, their needs and wants. They fill pages with it. They are asked to review the list many times. Then they do a meditation process. At the end of the meditation, they are asked to recollect from memory their list of desires.

What they can recollect is usually a fraction of what they have written. It is as if they started with a large tree full of leaves, their desires, and during this meditation the tree shed almost all its leaves, as if the leaves were dry and dead. What it retained glowed like golden leaves. Whatever is left in their memories, those desires glow like gold. They are the ones that carry the energy for their fulfillment! These desires are the true desires that they carry.

If the process is done with awareness, these desires are always selfless desires. They may enrich the individual, no doubt, but they always enrich humanity. Only such selfless desires carry the energy of the Universe with them for fulfillment. When our desires are our own true desires, when they reflect our real needs, when they express themselves in our inner energy, we don't feel any desperation about trying to achieve them. The realization comes that, as a matter of the natural course of events, these desires will be fulfilled. We are not driven and we are not troubled. We accept that these will happen. Therefore, Kṛṣṇa counsels Arjuna, 'Become free from wants, be selfless and you shall be untroubled, liberated and you will reach Me.'

Impress upon the students that the Universe is programmed to fulfil all our needs. While our wants are endless and driven by comparison with others and bring us suffering.

• ❖ What is nissaṇgatvaṁ' or emotional non-attachment?
• ❖ What is 'nirmohatvaṁ,' or non-attachment to desires?
• ❖ What is the difference between 'wants' and 'needs'? What are our true desires? Are they always selfless?

• 1. Fabric Paint
• 2. Brush
• 3. A clothing item eg. T-shirt, Stoles, Saris etc.

Select a part of the dress that you wish to paint on. Now with a pencil draw any spiritual image or symbol and paint it. An example is shown below to inspire you.

Truth begins where logic ends.

Make a list of all your desires, your needs and wants and write them down in your notebook or on a sheet of paper. Review your list many times . Next, your class coordinator will guide us through a group meditation process for 10 minutes. Relax and settle into yourself in restful awareness.

After the meditation, please recollect from your memory your list of desires and rewrite them on a fresh sheet or page in your notebook. You will have more clarity about your desires after the meditation. Your new list is usually a fraction the earlier list. If the meditation process is done with awareness, these desires will always be selfless desires.

Our selfless desires carry the energy of the Universe with them for fulfillment. we don't feel any desperation about trying to achieve them. The realization comes that, as a matter of the natural course of events, these desires will be fulfilled.

Topic of discussion is "Wants are endless"

"Needs" carry the energy within them for fulfillment. "Wants" carry the seeds of our suffering. A person who is free of wants is dear to Krishna.

Authored by

THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM

yo na hṛṣyati na dveṣṭi na śocati na kā�…kṣati I śubhāśubhaparityāgi bhaktimānyaḥ sa me priyaḥ

He who does not rejoice or hate or grieve or desire, renounces both good and evil and who is full of devotion, he is dear to Me.

There is no such thing as good and evil. It is all in our mind. When we understand this truth we are in Kṛṣṇa's realm. That's His promise.

He who does not rejoice or hate or who does not grieve or desire, and who renounces both good and evil and who is full of devotion, he is dear to Me. Kṛṣṇa now goes into another level of controlling the mind. He now refers to one who does not love or hate—yo na haṛṣyati na dveṣṭi. He is not talking about not loving anyone. When we love the way we do, with conditionality and expectations, it works well as long as these expectations are fulfilled. When something does not work the way we wish it to, the love disappears like a dewdrop in the sun. In its place, hate appears.

Hatred and love are opposite sides of the same coin as long as love is conditional. Love can flip into hatred in a moment, the moment we feel that our expectations are threatened. In love of this type, there is external rejoicing, sharing of joy and happiness and public expression of happiness as long as the emotion remains.

Often, love or what we believe is love is related to time and space. So long as the distance is large and the time of contact is minimal we see a few defects in those we profess to love. Once we get closer and spend more time, we see the real picture. It can also convert love into hatred. To transcend love and hatred which are two different expressions of the same perceived reality, we need to drop expectations. We need to develop a sense of non-attachment. We need to be complete in our love.

We all go through several stages of relationships in our lifetime. As children, we are totally dependent upon parents. Our parents influence us and our love for our parents is conditional. We love them only because there is no option.

To survive, a child must depend upon its parents. As we grow into adolescence, we question many things we took for granted as an infant or a child; therefore, teenagers rebel. They wish to be independent. They break rules.

In adulthood, we learn that to survive and coexist, we need to follow societal rules and regulations. We develop skills to get along with others. We learn to work and relate with others. Otherwise, we may become misfits in society. The single most important lesson that people learn in adulthood is that it is important to relate with people meaningfully.

As we grow and mature, and the spirit and its development become important, we seek guidance. We look for a Master. With the Master, the relationship is the reverse of what we started with as a child. We are once again concerned about survival, but it is the survival of the spirit and not the mind or body. To help in this survival of the spirit, the relationship that we need with the Master is one of absolute dependence once again, but with a difference. For the relationship to work, it now needs to be totally unconditional and based upon deep trust.

The only relationship that will work with the Master is total and unconditional love out of completion. It is absolute surrender. Surrender transcends love and hate. When one is in a mood of total surrender to the Master or the Divine, both being one and the same, the concept of good and evil, sin and merit disappear.

understand this truth we are in

His realm. That's His promise.

Impress upon the students that one must love all unconditionally without expecting anything in return and with detachment.

• ❖ What is true Love?
• ❖ Is love that is conditional or filled with expectation, true love?
• ❖ Why is a sense of detachment or nonexpectation needed for loving with completion?
• ❖ What is love for the Master?
• ❖ What is Surrender?
• ❖ Is there Hell or Heaven, where we go in the afterlife, based on our accumulated good deeds or sins?

Part 7: Bhagavad Gita Chapter 12 - Collection_English_part_7.md

An electronic device- iphone, ipad, laptop etc, and internet.

Create an online e-card to give a tribute to the Master, using any free online card maker application eg. canva.com, openme.com, smilebox.com etc. Note: If a device is not available, let the child draw a card and scan it later.

Let us engage with the divine as our child plays and favourite pastime.

In order for the realization and nurturing of the spirit within, a relationship with the master must be fostered. Share with the class a list five (5) qualities you would like to bring to your relationship with the Master? And Why? Example. surrender, unconditional love, non-judgemental, trust, dependence, respect, obedience etc.

The relationship with the Master has to be one of total and unconditional love out of completion and surrender that transcends emotions (love and hate); opinions (good and evil); and social conditioning (sin and merit).

Topic of discussion is: "What is surrender to the Master?"

Brain storm the following questions: Is surrender the same as unquestioning obedience to rules and regulations? Does it require complete dependence for survival of the body and education of the mind? Is it based on dependence for survival of the spirit? Does it need unwavering trust? Does it require the giving up of independence or giving up of lifestyle choices?

True love for others, is to love unconditionally, with detachment and without expectations. Love for the master must be unconditional, based on completion and total surrender that transcends emotions (love and hate), opinions (good and evil) and social conditioning (sin and merit).

Whom God Loves

THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM

samaḥ śatrau ca mitre ca tathā mānāpamānayoḥ I śītoṣṇasukhaduḥkheṣu samaḥ sa�…gavivarjitaḥ

One who treats friends and enemies the same, who faces in the same manner honor and dishonor, heat and cold, happiness and sorrow, fame and infamy,

One who is neutral towards friends and enemies, who is the same in honor and dishonor, heat and cold, joy and pain, who remains the same in criticism and praise is very dear to Krishna.

tulyanindāstutir maunī santuṣṭo yena kenacit I aniketaḥ sthira-matir bhaktimānme priyo naraḥ

one who is always free from attachment, always silent and satisfied with anything, without a fixed home, who is fixed in mind and who is devoted to Me, such a person is very dear to Me.

One who is free from attachment to the fruits of action, who is thoughtful, who is content with whatever he gets, who does not care for any house and is resolute in mind, such a man, is full of devotion and is very dear to Krishna.

ye tu dharmyāmṛtam idaṁ yathoktaṁ paryupāsate I śraddadhānā matparamā bhaktās te 'tīva me priyāḥ

Those who truly follow this imperishable path of righteousness with great faith, making Me the supreme goal, are very dear to Me.

A person who lives in dharma, righteousness and is devoted to reaching Krishna consciousness is devoted to Krishna and dear to him.

One who treats friends and enemies the same, who faces in the same manner honor and dishonor, heat and cold, happiness and sorrow, fame and infamy; One who is always free from attachment, always silent and satisfied with anything, without a fixed home, who is fixed in mind and who is devoted to Me, such a person is very dear to Me. Those who truly follow this imperishable path of righteousness with great faith, making Me the supreme goal, are very dear to Me. Again Kṛṣṇa says, 'Such a person, full of devotion is dear to Me— bhaktimān me priyo naraḥ .'

He is not ready to put down any more rules, which means He is almost ending His instructions. He is almost saying, 'This is the way, if somebody is like this then I love him, that's all. I am not interested in anything else.'

He says, 'One who is neutral towards friends and enemies, who is the same in honor and dishonor, heat and cold, joy and pain, free from attachment to the fruits of action, who remains the same in criticism and praise; who is thoughtful, who is content with whatever he gets, who does not care for any house and is resolute in mind, such a man, full of devotion is very dear to Me.'

Here is a beautiful phrase, 'One who does not care for any house and who doesn't bother to build a house for himself, aniketah sthira matir.'

Rāvaṇa lived for one kalpa (many thousands of years). Śrī Vyāsa lived for four kalpas. Rāvaṇa was building Lankāpuri, his capital in Śrī Lanka. He got Lankāpuri as a gift from Śiva and he was developing it. When Vyāsa came to the city, Rāvaṇa asked him, 'Oh Vyāsa, did you see my palace, and my country? How grand they look.' Vyāsa replied, 'Yes, I have seen them.' Rāvaṇa showed him everything with pride and asked, 'Why don't you build a house for yourself?' Vyāsa smiled and said, 'My life is just four kalpas. I have no time to waste building houses. After all, I am going to live here for only four kalpas, why should I waste time building houses?'

Rāvaṇa lived for only one kalpa, for which he built such a big house. Śrī Vyāsa whose life was four times as long, thought it was unnecessary to waste part of his life building houses! 'One who is not concerned about owning a house is full of devotion and he is near to Me, dear to Me.'

Kṛṣṇa concludes this chapter on Bhakti Yoga, Union through Devotion, saying that one who lives in dharma, righteousness is devoted to Him.

Dharma is spiritual righteousness. It is not, and has nothing to do with rules and regulations laid down by society and religion. Human tendency is always to break rules. Societal rules seem to restrict one's freedom of expression and movement.

Understand that you are no sinner! Divinity resides within us. Our only sin, the original sin, is in not recognizing that we are divine. Therefore we don't need to strive to attain enlightenment. We just need to become aware of our inner divinity.

In this modern age, the path of dharma, righteousness that Kṛṣṇa talks about leading to Him, is the path of meditation. When we follow meditation, one automatically gets into the virtuous circle of conscious awareness and completion that takes us to Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

The barrier to the realization, that our true nature is divine, disappears. We become who we are. We realize we are complete. We realize we are one with the Divine.

Let us pray to the ultimate energy, Parabrahma Kṛṣṇa, to make us all experience the truths of Bhakti Yoga, that love is our very life. Let us pray to Him to give us the conscious experience of bhakti, devotional love, and make us experience and radiate eternal bliss, Nityānanda.

Impress upon the students that the only real sin is to not recognize the divinity within us. We don't need to strive to attain enlightenment. We just need to become aware of our inner divinity.

• ❖ What is Dharma or spiritual righteousness?
• ❖ What is the thought current that prompts us to build houses and gather material possessions?
• ❖ What is meditation?
• ❖ Does meditation lead us to Krishna Consciousness?

Let's make a Dharma Chakra, a wheel shaped symbol representing the virtuous cycle of Dharma (righteousness) and Sathya (Truth) using colour paper. Check out the video on how to make an Origami chakra at:

When we follow meditation, one automatically gets into the virtuous circle of conscious awareness and completion that takes us to Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Let us try to meditate. We have 7 main chakras or energy centers in our spiritual body - Sahasrara Chakra, Agnya, Vishuddhi, Anahata, Manipuraka, Swadhisthana and Mooladhara.

Regularly meditating or focusing attention upon the various energy centers within our body does immense good to our being. Find out from your teacher what are the body parts associated with each of these chakras. Ask the teacher to explain what are the powerful cognitions associated with each chakra. Don't stop with mere knowledge, take every available opportunity to search inside of you, to become more and more familiar with your energy centers.

Find out more! There are smells, sounds, colours, gems and ideas that can help awaken your awareness about yourself.

Make your personal meditative journey fun by using aromatherapy, meditation music - using Hindu classical music notes or raagas, colour therapy, vedic chants and gemology and much more.

Finally, connect with the Master meet him in total receptivity and deep silence. Let his presence resonate in your energy body and beyond!

We are divine. Let meditation reveal your own divinity to you!

"What is the significance of meditation in spiritual practice?:

Meditation is a process of shutting the mind down by completing all root thought patterns of the mind. In this process of reaching the no-mind state, the ego drops. The barrier to the realization, that our true nature is divine, disappears. We become who we are. We realize we are complete. We realize we are one with the Divine.