Bhagavad Gita Chapter 5 - Lesson 6 of 7: The Path To Self-Realization

INTRODUCTION

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If we don't fuel our being with fear and greed, suddenly, we will see a new clarity. We will start working out of intelligence, out of Divine Consciousness, out of Eternal Bliss. Just decide, 'Whatever I do out of greed will only result in more greed. I have been getting nowhere. Enough!' In the same way, if we are escaping from something out of fear, decide, 'Alright, how long can I escape? This fear will come and attack me in some other form. If I am afraid of this now, I will be afraid of something else later. So let me face it now.'

Again and again, Kṛṣṇa declares, 'Let you live in the space of completion. Let you work out of bliss.' And I tell you, if you are complete and work out of bliss, you will create bliss for yourself and for others; you will never know what tiredness is.

Let me tell you honestly that I still can't understand the meaning of the word 'tiredness.' How can you have tiredness? Tiredness is the inner contradiction between the icchā śakti (power of desire) and kriya śakti (power of action), between your being and your action. Inside, there is a deep problem. Your greed and fear are attacking each other. If we are feeling tired, it means there is a big war going on inside you. The Mahābhārat war between fear and greed is happening within you.

Why do we feel tired? We feel tired when we are not integrated within ourselves. One half of our being that wants to express itself but we have suppressed it for various societal reasons. The other half of our being is what is expressing itself in the manner that we are forcing it to. When we become tired, the suppressed, unconscious half of us becomes more powerful than the conscious, pretentious half, and it starts dominating.

JUST INTEGRATE
YOURSELF. BE WITH
COMPLETION RATHER
THAN SUPPRESSING
YOURSELF, AND THERE
WILL BE NO
UNCONSCIOUS HALF
TO FIGHT WITH.
BECOME COMPLETE,
INTEGRATED, AND
WHOLE. THEN YOU
CAN NEVER FEEL
TIRED, WHATever YOU
MAY DO.

First, let us get our body and mind under our control. As of now, it is under the control of fear or greed. Let that be controlled by us. Then, automatically, we can get anything under our control. If our body and mind are not under our control, whatever we wish to bring under our control will never come under our control.

Just Be Happy From Within

Here is a beautiful sūtra, a beautiful technique from Kṛṣṇa to enter into the supreme consciousness: ‘Just be happy, restful and complete from within’, says Kṛṣṇa When you are in the space of completion in the present moment with full enthusiasm, you are in a state of bliss. Bliss is the state of joy that has no reason and which is not affected by the past or future.

Why To Feel Responsible?

This is what Kṛṣṇa says: When we are tuned fully inwards, we no longer have any attachment to what happens outside; we are one with the All, the Existence, and we have transcended all karma. We are then in brahma nirvāṇa—the ultimate liberation, one with Existence, and we are in nityānanda, eternal bliss. When we are tuned inwards, we live in the present; the past and future do not exist for us. When we are in the present, we are one with Existence. I call this All- one-ness.

We are All-in-One. We are in the
space of Advaita, non-duality. We
encompass everything. In this state,
we are at the height of spontaneity;
we are at the peak of our possibility.

The more responsibility we take up, the more we expand.

With responsibility, we harness the
power of feeling. When we feel the
space of responsibility, we take it up
without any doubts.

Responsibility can happen to you
only after completion. If you take
responsibility because you have to be
a performer, or a leader, or to be
productive, you will feel
responsibility as a weight on you!
Listen! Understand, only when you
complete, you will know the right
reason for taking responsibility.

Why you need to feel responsibility, why you should take responsibility.

Whatever happens in and around you—you ARE the source! That is why you need to take responsibility for whatever is happening in and around you. You need to take responsibility because you are responsible, and not for any other reason. Whether you believe it or not, you ARE the source. When we feel genuine love for others, we will take up responsibility because we want to share that blissful love with others around us. Only when we work out of bliss, we will do things to enrich others and ourselves. Taking responsibility and enriching makes life happen to you! When we take up responsibility spontaneously, we do not act out of fear or greed. We will always be giving.

GOALS:

To understand to live in the
space of completion and work
out of bliss Help the children
understand where tiredness
comes from Help them
understand responsibility

Image of a deity decorated with peacock feathers

ASSESSMENTS

What decision can you make to get out of greed?

What decision can you make to get out of fear?

What is tiredness?

Why do we need to get our body and mind under our control?

What is the technique Kṛṣṇa gives us in this lesson?

What happens to our attachment to the outside when we are tuned fully inwards?

What does Swamiji call being one with Existence?

What is the difference between responsibility taken for the right reason and responsibility taken for reasons that are not the right ones?

Who is the source for whatever is happening in and around you?

A portrait of a male deity figure seated in a meditative posture, wearing traditional Indian jewelry, headwear, and clothing, centered in an oval frame.

ART OF THE DAY

ART OF THE DAY:

DRAW YOUR TIREDNESS

MATERIALS NEEDED:

Paper

Colouring Pens

PROCEDURE:

Challenge the children to find a way to draw that their tiredness is their inner contradiction between icchā śakti (power of desire) and kriya śakti (power of action).

INFERENCE: If we are feeling tired, it means the Mahābhārat war between fear and greed is happening within us.

A portrait of Paramashiva seated on a throne

ACTIVITY OF THE DAY

ACTIVITY OF THE DAY: I TRUST YOU

Materials Needed:

Blindfolds for half the children A few obstacles to place around the room like a cushion, an empty cardboard box, balloon.

Procedure:

Place the obstacles around the room. Put the children into pairs. One of the pair wears a blindfold and the other child is responsible for taking the blindfolded child around the room safely, without bumping or tripping. After a little while, change the roles in the pair. Ask the children how it felt to be responsible for someone else, whether it was a heavy responsibility or a blissful one.

INFERENCE:

When we feel genuine love for others, we will take up responsibility because we want to share that blissful love with others around us.

Illustration of four people sitting around a table

WORKSHOP OF THE DAY

WORKSHOP OF THE DAY:

VAAKYARTHA SADHAS

Procedure: Hold Vaakyartha Sadhas with the children on “Whether you believe it or not, you ARE the source.” How can they use this lesson at school? At home? With their friends?

CONCLUSION:

Take responsibility for the right reason, to work out of bliss