Sensory Traps🔗

Authored by

THE SPH NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM

They think: This has been gained by me today; I shall fulfill this desire; I have this much wealth and will have more wealth in the future

Existence is waiting to shower us with all that we need.

Once we move from the 'me' focused demonic state into the 'you' based Divine state, we no longer need to worry about creating wealth, developing a power base, establishing relationships or whatever else we have focused attention upon all our lives. Existence takes care of all this

16.15

I am rich and born in a noble family. Who is equal to me? I shall perform sacrifice, I shall give charity, and I shall rejoice. Thus deluded by ignorance

Existence takes care of us

aneka-citta-vibhrāntā mohajālasamāvṛtāḥ prasaktāḥ kāmabhogeṣu patanti narake'śucau Thus confused by various anxieties and caught in a net of illusions, one becomes too deeply attached to sensory pleasures and falls into hell

Once we move from the ‘me’ focused demonic state into the ‘you’ based Divine state, existence takes care of our needs.

Śaṅkara defines āhāra or food, in one of his commentaries, to mean all sensory inputs, whereas traditionally āhāra is translated as food. Every sensory organ has its own āhāra, inputs, upon which it feeds. Based on these inputs, the eye, ear, tongue, nose and skin develop their desires and convey these desires to the body-mind system. Control of these senses and the desires that they weave is what Sage Patañjali prescribed as pratyāhāra, one of the eight methods of his Aṣṭāṅga Yoga. Pratyāhāra is not suppression or starving the senses. The average human is led by his senses; he does not lead his senses. His karmendriya, the organs of action that are responsible for movements are driven by these desires without the need for input from the conscious mind. Instinctively, they avoid pain and welcome pleasure.

We fantasize about accumulating wealth. Unfortunately for us, the purpose of gaining wealth is rarely to enjoy it. If that was the reason, all we need to do is to gain some wealth and then spend it on enjoyment. In most cases, the joy of acquisition becomes the drive for the person rather than the joy of using the wealth. It has nothing to do with what one can do with the wealth. It has to do with how much more we have than all the other people that we know. We are driven by comparison and envy. We are not merely fulfilling our needs, we are actually fulfilling other people's wants and desires. From childhood, we are taught to grab. Nothing we have is enough. Nothing fulfills us. Until death, we are driven by greed.

Existence is waiting to shower us with all that we need. The problem is that we never stop to understand what we need. All the time we are caught in the web of our sensory fantasies, and we run after what others own; we let our senses lead us. Once we move from the 'me' focused demonic state into the 'you' based Divine state, we no longer need to worry about creating wealth, developing a power base, establishing relationships or whatever else we have focused attention upon all our lives. Existence takes care of all this. Existence takes care of us. If instead, we are focused on our own self, 'me,' be sure, we are moving in a downward spiral that Kṛṣṇa says takes us into hell.

Students to contemplate on what their real needs are and learn to differentiate them from wants that are inspired by outer influences. They develop a healthy attitude towards money. The importance of wealth as a supportive energy in enabling one to achieve one's life purposes must not be undermined. Wealth must not be accumulated for the sake of competition nor associated with ideas of self worth and security.

1. Why is it important to be conscious about the inpu[t] give to our five senses?

2. What is pratyāhāra, one of the eight methods of his Aṣṭāṅga Yoga?

1. What are our real needs that require money?

2. What are our wants that are inspired by outer influences?

3. Will we be truly happy if we dedicate our life solely for awakening the supreme consciousness in ourselves and others?

4. Does the Universe take care of the needs of the people, who dedicate their life to raising human consciousness towards enlightenment?

MATERIALS NEEDED:

Electronic device with internet, access to social media networking sites 1 large poster-sized piece of paper Paper - small sheet (A4) per child Colour pens

PROCEDURE: The Mithila painting is one of the dying traditions of India that originated in the State of Bihar. It is a form of folk painting made on paper, cloth, readymade garments, movable objects using natural vegetable dyes and is mainly done by the village women of Mithila. Mithila paintings often depict the life and leelas of Krishna. This folk art is nearing extinction. Search the internet for your favourite Mithila painting. see the example on the next page Take a colour print or try your hand at making a copy. Your contribution will go into assembling the group collage. Share the painting and collage on your social media groups to generate awareness about this art form.

Our focus must be on what we can do with our wealth and material blessings. How we can optimally utilize our blessing for the upliftment of ourselves and others.

A SMALL STORY

Two friends met in the street. One of them looked sad and almost on the verge of tears. The other one asked, 'What happened? Why do you look so sad?' He replied, 'My uncle passed away three weeks ago. He left me fifty thousand dollars.' His friend said, 'That's not Bad.' He continued, 'Two weeks ago my cousin died and he left me ninety thousand dollars.' His friend cried, 'This is great!' He went on, 'Last week my grandfather died. He left me a million.' His friend asked, 'Then why are you so sad? He replied, 'Because this week, nobody died.'

Let's try to answer the following questions:

Wealth is a supportive energy that helps nourish and sustain human beings on the earthly plane and enables them to fulfill their life purpose.

WORKSHOP OF THE DAY:

VAAKYARTHA SADHAS -

PROCEDURE:

1. Let us discuss the topic "I must starve my senses and suppress my desires, in order to silence my mind and find peace within." Do you agree? Why? or Why not

CONCLUSION:

The sensory inputs we give to ourselves, shape our desires. Our desires subconsciously drive our actions and life choices. Ensuring purity of sensory inputs helps cultivate an inner space that is conducive to spiritual growth.

BOOK XVI, VOLUME VI

Move From "Me" To "You"

Authored by

THE SPH NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM

16.17

Self-complacent and always conceited, deluded by wealth and false pride, they perform superficial sacrifices in name only, without following the vedic rules or regulations

The courage to move from ‘me’ to ‘You’ is the courage to trust, love and surrender. When that happens there is nothing else but Him. We become Kṛṣṇa.

Kṛṣṇa is compassion Incarnate. Anyone who surrenders to Him is liberated.

When we surrender to Kṛṣṇa, our surrender must be total.

These foolish beings attain repeated birth amongst the species of demoniac life. Without ever achieving Me, O Kaunteya (Son of Kuntī), they sink into the most abominable existence

Become a servant of love. You then become a master of humanity.

Kṛṣṇa is compassion Incarnate. Anyone who surrenders to Him is liberated. The problem is that we only pretend to surrender. What we have are mere words with no integrity and no authenticity. Our thoughts do not match our words, and our words do not match our actions. People ask whether they are controlled by destiny or free will. I tell them that no destiny binds them; they are free to exercise their will. The Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad puts it so well: As are your thoughts, so is your will; as is your will, so your action, as are your actions, so is your destiny. Destiny is nothing but the end result of how we exercise our free will.

The problem is, we have no will; in the morning we want to do one thing, by noon it is something different, by night it is totally different. So, if our will keeps changing, how can it ever be converted into action?

Create the Space of Surrender. When we surrender to Kṛṣṇa, our surrender must be total. We must take the responsibility to fulfill the space of surrender. There can be nothing between Him and us. Then, He surely liberates us. Because then we are already liberated, we are in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Here, He talks about people who feel no need to surrender to Him. They are so full of ego, that they feel He is their competitor. He says He will cast them into the material world. In this material world, they can follow their senses, sense objects and what they consider to be sensual pleasures till death. As I said before, it is our decision. Even Kṛṣṇa is helpless to change it, because He has given us the power to decide. He has handed over the decision to us; to decide whether we want to be ‘me’ or ‘You’ focused: demonic or divine.

Saying again and again, 'I believe in what Kṛṣṇa says,' has no meaning. It does not help. Faith does not mean belief. Belief is not trust. Belief is a pseudo-trust, imposed, cultivated out of fear. It is not something that has grown from within us. Rather, it is something that has been implanted by others: society, religion, the state. Believers remain stupid; they never grow in intelligence. And society does not want people to be intelligent. The 'yes' of a man who cannot say 'no' is always powerless. First a man must learn to say 'no,' only then does his 'yes' have meaning. Faith is different from belief. With faith we grow. We grow in love to a Master and to God. Most of us look to God as a person to pray to, to worship.

We feel God is a third person. He is not us. Prayer and worship become important pathways to reach this form. The moment we drop the idea of a person, prayer disappears; instead, meditation becomes significant. Meditation is going inwards. So, it is more difficult for many who are educated rationally. That's why meditation never became the central core of religion in the West. In the East all the great masters founded their teachings on meditation. They taught followers to turn inwards. They taught them to be God, not to worship God. Meditation leads us to surrender. Meditation is the process of creation of the space of completion. Completion is the knowledge that we are one with the Universe. It is then about 'you' instead of 'me'. The feeling of 'you' and the absence of 'me' dissolve the idea of 'I' as identity. This is the foundation of surrender.

Let me repeat: Surrender, renunciation of the self, or sannyāsa is a defeat, a defeat of the ego. God is realized the moment the ego is dissolved. Surrender is the search for the Divine principle. Call it God, truth, freedom, or nirvāṇa. They mean the same thing. The search is for something that is missing in life. We are alive but unaware of what life is about. We exist, but we are completely oblivious to the fact of who we are.

This is what Kṛṣṇa talks about in this chapter. The courage to move from ‘me’ to ‘You’ is the courage to trust, love and surrender. When that happens there is nothing else but Him. We become Kṛṣṇa.

When we are one with the Universe, one with Kṛṣṇa, there is nothing else we need to look up to. There is nothing else to look for. We have reached eternal bliss — Nityānanda.

1. Teach the students to internalize that it is important to move from 'me' to 'You'. With trust, love and surrender our ego gets dissolved and we become one with the Universe.

MATERIALS NEEDED: 200 Popsicle sticks (per child) Glue Scissors Paper Clamp/paper clips (to hold structures together while they dry)

PROCEDURE: Use your creativity to create a miniature boat. Feel free to create variations of the design shown below

INFERENCE Our little boat of life is caught in a whirlpool inside the ocean of life and death. Round and round we go deeper and deeper into this world of illusions. We must pray to Krishna to take on the role of our boatman, who would steer our life boat out of this whirlpool and take it to the seashore on the other side.

Meditate upon the Power of Visualization. Close your eyes and sit in a comfortable position. Let us create the space within to make something into reality. Let us visualize that what we desire has already happened. Several thoughts in the form of doubts regarding the impossibility of the desire or doubt about your ability to create such a state, depression of past failures or complete distrust, may arise within you. Bringing your past hangover into the present is incompletion. Complete with all these thoughts and incompletions. Stay firm on your resolve to create the space within by bringing your future possibility into the present is Space. For Example. If we wish to get rid of back pain, and we keep saying, 'Let this back pain go,' it will never go. Every time we utter the words back pain, our mind latches more firmly onto the past hangover of pain.

If we want to get rid of pain, we must complete with all self-doubts and create the space for health by visualizing that we are feeling healthy now.

Creating the space by visualizing it in the present, helps make things happen in reality. However self-contradiction, self-doubt, self-hatred and impossibilities disrupts the realization of the visualization. Complete with all these incompletions by bringing your future possibility into the present and deciding that you will not challenge the power of the space, but you will take the responsibility to fulfill that space

1. The topic of discussion is "Destiny is nothing but the end result of how we exercise our free will".

Destiny does not bind anyone; they are free to exercise their will. As are your thoughts, so is your will; as is your will, so your action, as are your actions, so is your destiny. Destiny is nothing but the end result of how we exercise our free will. However a constantly changing will fails to convert into result producing actions. When people are persistent in their will to surrender their ego at the feet of the divine and turn inwards towards universal love and oneness; they are liberated by Krishna