The Courage Of Authenticity
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THE SPH NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM
4.37
यथैधांसि समिद्धोऽग्निर्भस्मसात्कुरुतेऽर्जुन ।
ज्ञानाग्निः सर्वकर्माणि भस्मसात्कुरुते तथा
॥ ४=३७॥
yathaidhāṁsi samiddho'gnir
bhasmasātkurute'rjuna I jñānāgniḥ
sarvakarmāṇi bhasmasātkurute
tathā
Just as a blazing fire turns
firewood to ashes, O Arjuna, so
does the fire of wisdom burn to
ashes all actions, all your karma.
POWERFUL COGNITION
It is only when you drop the mind that all your actions arise out of intuition, from the super conscious state, the state of truth.
4.38
न हि ज्ञानेन सदृशं पवित्रमिह विद्यते ।
तत्स्वयं योगसंसिद्धः कालेनात्मनि विन्दति
॥ ४=३८॥
na hi jñānena sadṛśaṁ pavitramiha
vidyate I tatsvayaṁ yogasaṁsiddhaḥ
kālenātmani vindati
Truly, in this world, there is nothing
as pure as wisdom. One who has
matured to know this enjoys in
himself in due course of time.
POWERFUL COGNITION
The one established in authenticity is enriched with knowledge.
4.39
श्रद्धावाँल्लभते ज्ञानं तत्परः संयतेन्द्रियः ।
ज्ञानं लब्ध्वा परां शान्तिमचिरेणाधिगच्छति
॥ ४=३९॥
śraddhāvāllabhate jñānaṁ tatparaḥ
saṁyatendriyaḥ I jñānaṁ labdhvā
parāṁ śāntimacireṇādhigacchati
A person with śraddhā (courageous
faith) achieves wisdom and has
control over the senses. Achieving
wisdom, without delay, he attains
supreme peace.
POWERFUL COGNITION
When you have the knowledge and the courage of authenticity to follow and live the teachings, then you can achieve the ultimate knowledge, the knowledge of enlightenment.
INTRODUCTION
When I tell people to declare completion and drop their mind, they look at me as if I am a mad man. They ask me, 'How can we drop the mind? It is only when you drop the mind, drop your self-doubts, it is only when you stop connecting your thoughts to form a shaft, that you really start 'seeing'. Your ego stops interfering with the truth of what you see.
It stops filtering and adding tones to what your senses experience. Your baggage of embedded memories, your saṁskāras, dissolve, and the new 'you' is born. All your actions then arise out of intuition, from the super conscious state, the state of truth, where no mind can exist. Śraddha Enriches you with Knowledge.
In the next verse, Kṛṣṇa uses the word ‘śraddha’ again. What a beautiful verse, ‘śraddhāvān labhate jñānaṁ—the one established in authenticity is enriched with knowledge.’ Actually, śraddha means faith plus the courage of authenticity to live to your highest possibility; the courage to be established in the peak of your capability. Understand, continuously committing with words that express your maximum peak capacity, as per your understanding and as per others’ understanding is what is referred to as śraddha, authenticity.
Authenticity means stretching, stretching, and stretching. Go on stretching, that is Life! Go on stretching without fear, and without giving up on yourself. Do anything to honor and fulfill your words. Stretch yourself. Let all the powers inside you be unleashed!
AUTHENTICITY
Kṛṣṇa declares the power of authenticity here, ‘śraddhāvān labhate jñānaṁ (4.39).’ Only the authentic one is enriched with knowledge. When you have the knowledge and the courage of authenticity to follow and live the teachings, then you can achieve the ultimate knowledge, the knowledge of enlightenment. Many people do not have the courage of authenticity to see their research through. The eastern vedic sages did so much inner world research.
SPACE OF
POSSIBILITY
Millions of them have
stretched themselves fearlessly
doing full-time research for
thousands of years, using their
bodies and minds as
laboratories.
Why? Just to enrich others!
This knowledge of the inner
world is the result of their
authenticity, their space of
possibility to do courageous
experiments and studies just
for enriching others. They
were true inner scientists, true
śraddhavān who had not only
the curiosity, 'the great why'
and the perseverance to know,
but also the courage of
authenticity to follow, live and
express their findings.
Look at Patañjali, the father of yoga—He boldly declares that all that he says in the Yoga Sutras is completely open to experimentation and verification. He says, 'You are free to try this, and if you find anything more to be added or edited, you are free to do so.' He has presented his research report. He invites you to try out these in your life and if you learn something more from that, his work is open to editing. That is the beauty of our system; it is a living system open to being updated.
DHARMA
Of all religious and spiritual
doctrines, it is only the
scriptures of the sanātana-
dharma, the eternal path of
righteousness, as the Hindu
philosophy is called, that allow
themselves to be updated. The
Vedas and the Upaniṣads, which
we believe are the voices of
Nature, are not rules and
regulations. They are truths to
be understood and followed
only in awareness. There are no
punishments if one does not
follow them, nor is one
condemned as a sinner if one
doesn't follow them.
SANATANA HINDU
DHARAM
This is the greatness and pristine beauty of sanātana-dharma, the eternal path of living. We are the most powerful, most sophisticated, most intelligent, most cutting-edge presentation of the Truth left with the possibility to evolve more and more, open for the possibility of being updated! Nothing was sacred just because it was uttered. All that we follow blindly today as traditions came through societal interpretation.
It is for us to sift through these truths with conscious awareness. Once tested, proven, accepted and intranalysed, we need to have the courage of authenticity to practice these truths. Mere knowledge is insufficient. That is what śraddha is about.
With śraddha, faith combined with courage of authenticity, you make the effort to constantly stretch and align yourself to the peak capability of what you feel as you, what you project as you, and what others' perceive as you. This dawns the ultimate knowledge in you.
With authenticity you conquer your senses, and direct your mind towards the truth, instead of your mind and senses leading you wherever they wish to. The state of fear can be born in you only when you are inauthentic. Only a man in authenticity, living authenticity, is a liberated one enriched with the ultimate knowledge, śraddhāvān labhate jñānaṁ
GOALS:
Impress upon the students that
we need to have the courage of
authenticity to practice these
truths of sanatana dharma.
ASSESSMENTS
❖ What is śraddha ?
❖ What is authenticity? What are
the benefits of living in
authenticity?
❖ Scriptures of which religion are
open to experimentation,
verification and updation?
ART OF THE DAY
ART OF THE DAY:
AIRPLANE
MATERIALS NEEDED:
- ice cream sticks
- glue,
- scale,
- pencil
- scissors
- sand paper
- acrylic paint,
- brush
PROCEDURE
Make an airplane / glider with the ice cream sticks and glue.
INFERENCE
Encourage the kids to express their peak creative potential by making a glider that can actually fly. Go on stretching your capacity to create, that is Life!
ACTIVITY OF THE DAY
ACTIVITY OF THE DAY:
Let us narrate a story:
'Once, a blind man went to a doctor to see if he had any hope of getting back his eyesight. The doctor checked him and said, ‘Yes, I can do a surgery and you can get back your eyesight. Then, you can drop your stick and start walking.’ The man replied, ‘Doctor, I understand I will get back my eyesight, but how can I walk without the stick?’ The blind man could not understand that he can walk without a stick! He does not even know what it means to be able to see. The doctor has to do the surgery to give him back his eyesight, then automatically he will drop the stick. Now substitute the “stick” for the “human mind” and “blindness” with “ignorance”. What is your take-away from the story?
ACTIVITY OF THE DAY:
INFERENCE:
You will see that the hesitation
to drop the mind is because of
ignorance. When true
knowledge dawns on us, the
ignorance melts away and
automatically the mind is
dropped.
It is only when you drop the
mind that all your actions arise
out of intuition, from the super
conscious state, the state of
truth.
WORKSHOP OF THE DAY
WORKSHOP OF THE DAY: VAAKYARTHA SADHAS
Procedure:
Topic of discussion is
“What is the no-mind state?”
Conclusion:
With śraddha, faith combined
with courage of authenticity,
you make the effort to
constantly stretch and align
yourself to your peak
capability and this dawns the
ultimate knowledge in you.
- BHAGAVAD GITA -
BOOK IV, VOLUME X