Bhagavad Gita Course: Chapter 18 (contd.)

Class Notes | May 1, 2018

Notes by Deepika Allana, New Delhi, India

INTRODUCTION

The many does not affect the one. We are all looking at many objects, but these objects don’t affect my eyes. Go deeper: the condition of my eyes does not affect my one mind. Deeper: the many thoughts of the mind cannot affect that which is bringing light to the mind/illuminating the mind (the spirit). This simple teaching is an example of learning how to think. This is more important than what to think. Krishna is teaching us that our evolution will be facilitated by knowledge. We will grow by knowledge, and not by karma.

REVIEW FROM LAST FEW WEEKS

Most people think the key to whatever the purpose of their life is, is karma.

• When one learns how to think, they know the only purpose of life is to reach happiness. And this is through knowledge.
• If the knowledge is not having enough impact on our lives that it should, it is because we don’t have enough knowledge of karma. Bhagwan is taking us inside out of karma. We learned about karma magnified 10x, a few weeks ago. Last week too, we learned about karma magnified 100x.
• The deeper my vision is, the deeper my purpose.
• My purpose will naturally affect my attitude. The karta will then manifest more as the buddhi (or understanding). This is the fuel while I am acting. I may have an attitude going into the action. But what is my understanding of that action.
• Dhriti (commitment) — I may have understanding of action, but it is hard. There are challenges. One who has commitment, treat challenges as training and not as problems.
• If karma becomes knowledge, then the meaning is powerful. When we have understanding, this leads to sukha (happiness).

Chapter Sections 18.14–18.18

• We are all suffering from an identity crisis. When someone knows that they are more than just the equipment and go deeper, the crisis starts to be transcended.
• Every one of us is born with a varna (colors- the texture of our mind, not the pigment of the skin). Some of us are more dark inside (tamasic) and some more light inside (saatvic).
• Bhagwan says that you can change your colors.

>>>Angry person can become patient and a patient person can become angry. Our understanding is that we are caste in a mold. But Bhagwan says no. You can change.

>>>To make the change, one must know one’s swabhava- who they are deeper than the body. Past the intellect, ego, body sheath and breath sheath- even deeper.

>>>The more they know their swabhava, the more they know what their dharma is supposed to be.

Swabhava and dharma

• Saatva feeling:

>>>If swabhava and dharma are matched (who I am and what I am doing/role and responsibility)

>>>growing inside and outside/peace and prosperity.

• Raajasic feeling:

>>>if swabhava and dharma are mismatched (feels like conflict, instead of growth)

>>>Conflict inside and outside.

• Tamas feeling:

>>>if there is no match between swabhave and dharma (I don’t know who I am or what I am doing/harm inside and outside.)

>>>Himsa — No sensitivity to who I am and therefore I won’t be sensitive to who you are.

• This matching of swabhava and dharma- the reason you are engaged in dharma, will bring an equivalent reward. Why I am acting (my reason), will equal my reward

>>>Tamasic example: someone engaged in dharma for prosperity, there reward is prosperity and that is it.

>>>Rajasic example: reason engaging in dharma is purity (they want to be more calm/cheerful)

>>>Saatvic example: reason engaging in dharma is peace (more than prosperity and purity- these are included in peace)

There is an even greater reason than peace, that is love. Love for God. Love for Self. Then reward naturally is love (bhakti).

• As you engage in karma, you are going to hurt yourself, stones, trees, etc., because karma is limited.
• As you are trying to know your swabhava and follow your dharma, practice makes paradise.
• As practice becomes natural, it is like being at rest. Dharma will no longer require effort.
• How karma is limited and there is going to be harm — another example- engage in attitude of acceptance. I should accept the circumstance I am in and practice doing my best. Then leaving the rest will be easy.

Chapter Section 18.19–18.23

• Tyaga leads to saanyasa. Tyaga is the means and saanyasa is end.
• Tyaga is practicing nondoership in action and saanyasa is nondoership.
• Action is fundamental. One has to act. But vision and attitude should be of nondoership.
• Tyaga brings calmness in the body, mind to be quiet, intellect to be still. Only with these qualifications, the evolution of this is samadhi.

>>>“Sam” means well. “A” means fully. “Dhi” means placed. So, fully and well placed.

• When ego is well and fully placed in spirit, that is saanyasa.

Saanyasa- many types. Here are 2 we should know about:

• Vidvat sannyasa: One has to let go of the ego. One is enlightened. As a formality you take sannyasa dhiksha. Why as a formality? Because one is already enlightened. It is rare to come across such rishis (Ex. Sri Ramana, Swami Tapovanam)
• Vividisha sannyasa: When one wants to renounce the ego and become enlightened. They come to an environment where they can be enlightened.

Back to tyaga

• if we are not careful about practicing nondership in action, we will not evolve. All the vasanas we have will stay and we will incur more vasanas.
• if there is tyaga, I am practicing this. I have understood 10x and 100x magnification of karma, then there will also be kripa (grace).

Bhagwan’s grace

Bhagwan so close to telling Arjuna that the only way to be free is through kripa (Bhagwan’s grace). The way you know Bhagwan’s grace has come into your life is that you feel more hopeful. When someone doesn’t feel the hope, they are forgetting the presence of God.

Beginning of the most fascinating part of the Gita.

• Bhagwan Krishna tells Arjuna — reflect on what I have taught for the past 675 shlokas fully.
• What you feel is right, you should do that.
• You should know how much I love you. You should know whatever you decide, I am with you.
• Where ever you go, I am there too.
• Bhagwan is expressing his gratitude to Prince Arjuna. Fantastic expression of unconditional love.

DISCUSSION QUESTION:

How do you know God loves you?

QUESTION AND ANSWER

Q: How do we make ourselves available to the process of aligning and matching the 2 in swabhava and dharma.

A: How do you find your swabhava so you can match your dharma to that. First, introspection. Who is going to get to know you is you. Those who are busy, and have no time, then not possible. You need to have time to think, so can’t be busy. Second, to be around people who you feel know their swabhava, they know themselves or are trying. So they can show you it is possible and help you find yours. Also, reading more- when we read about people who went from ordinary to extraordinary, they are role models. Third- have to be trained. Bhagwan has been trained so now can do whatever they want. For example, once trained through your childhood, then when you are an adult, you can do whatever you want.

RAW FROM LAST WEEK

Look at Sunita Menon’s chart on VG website. Nina has made a video to show her understanding.

RAW FOR THIS WEEK

Wear a religious symbol of sanatana dharma in an overt way.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Next week is Puja Gurudev’s Jayanti- 102 birth anniversary. We will connect for Gita class at 9pm next week. Be ready at 8:45 in case we can start early. Next week we will complete the content of the Gita course. The last lesson. Then we will have our review for a full month after that.

August satsangs:
August 6–10- Bala Vihar camp in Cleveland. Theme is Ch. 12 of the Gita (learning how to love). August 13–17- Chinmaya Boston youth camp for high school students. More than 100 students for 5 days studying the yoga sutras.
August 18- Chinmaya Niagara centers will have their annual seva training in London (Chinmaya Hanuman).
August 19- Vishnu yaga — massive ritual at Chinmaya Dhara — team from Buffalo facilitating in Niagara.
August 31-Sept. 2- young adults retreat in Boston (theme: Unlearning to Learn).
September 7 — Meditation and Life course begins

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5/1/2018: Vivekji’s class on review: Concluding lecture on Chapter 18 — Sudiksha Nimishe

The many does not effect the one. Examples, we see many objects with a pair of eyes and they do not affect the eyes. The condition of my eyes does not effect my mind (one). Going deeper, the many thoughts of the mind cannot effect that which is illuminating the mind; the spirit. This most logical simple teaching is about learning ‘how’ to think and not ‘what’ to think. BGC is an ideal forum to learn how to think. It is emphasized in Chapter 18. Our evolution is going to be facilitated through knowledge, not karma. We will grow in our potential by knowledge and not by karma.

Most people know what to think, thinking that karma is the key to the purpose of their life. But Bhagwan is saying here that one who knows how to think they know that the only purpose is happiness and to reach happiness one has to have the knowledge. Knowledge of happiness. We have been exposed to this knowledge here for 49 classes, but also for years and if there is no impact in our life then there is no clear understanding of karma. Throughout Chapter 18 Bhagwan Shri Krishna was taking us from inside out to karma. Karma was magnified 10 times for us and Bhagwan said that in every karma there is a karta, karna, cheshta, adhishthana, and daiva.

Last week Bhagwan took Karma as we are habituated to doing and magnified it a hundred times. He shared that genesis of our karma begins with Drishti, or insight, as a vision expressed more as our karma, purpose. This expresses more as karta or attitude. Deeper my vision, deeper my purpose will be. Purpose will truly affect my attitude.

The karta will then manifest more as the budhhi or understanding. This is more life a fuel while I am acting. So I may have this attitude going into the action, but then what is my understanding of this action. Example in a marriage if the understanding is lost, marriage begins to falter. But if understanding is there the marriage is insulated.

Finally, this expresses more as Dhriti as in commitment.I may the understanding of the action, but it is hard, it may be challenging. One with dhriti will treat these challenges as opportunities as training and not as problems.

With this 100 times understanding of karma, the karma becomes meaningful and then knowledge becoming powerful.

But if karma is meaningless then the knowledge that we are exposed to will stay as information.

When I have the 100 times understanding of this it leads to sukha. Sukha is the outermost expression of dhriti. People who know little of this experience little sukha, people who know more experience more rajasik sukha, but people who know this most experience the most happiness, the sattvik sukha.

Bhagwan is coming to our level of understanding to teach this.

18.14–18.18: All of us are suffering from a crisis? Which ones? Water, financial? We are all suffering from an Identity crisis. We think we know who we and we are right as long as our equipment are limited, this is our only understanding of life. When someone feels that they are more than the equipment, they may not have the clarity, but they feel they are more, they go deeper and the crisis starts transcending.

Bhagwan showed us this when he spoke about the karta, the doer, nowhere in these factors were the atman or Self. That is a crisis. Now when I think of as a doer there is a whole new crisis of life. Then this needs to be brought out in our vision that there is more to life than it meets the eye. So we are suffering from an identity crisis and Bhagwan is taking us deeper.

Everyone is born with a varna — color, the texture of our mind. Dark inside (tamasik), light inside (sattvik). We are all born with all colors, but predominantly we are one color. We study this throughout Srimad Bhagwad Gita that you can change your color. Like people change the color of your hair. There is so much change that we do in our color outside, Bhagwan is saying that we can change our colors inside. An angry person can become patient,a patient person can become angry. And this is a fine thought because our understanding of varna is that this is a cast. We are who we are, but Bhagwan says no, we can change our casting, the mold, by changing the svabhava. Svabhava is who they are deeper than the body. They are touching the mind and going deeper to intellect and ego. Past the body sheath and breath sheath. Deeper. The more one knows their svabhava, even in a relative way, the more they know what their dharma is to be. Example, someone who loves food would know what they want to eat or not, so too when someone knows their svabhava they are decisive about their dharma. When svabhava and dharma are matched this is known as sattva. This is who I am and this is my responsibility, when they are matched that is known as sattva. The feeling of sattva is that you grow inside and you grow outside. There is peace and there is prosperity if these are matched. So how do I know my dharma is, my responsibilities? By knowing my svabhava. When svabhava and dharma mismatch there is conflict. When there is no match that is known as tamas, there is harp inside and outside. I don’t know who I am or what I am doing. There is no sensitivity.

This matching of svabhava and dharma, Bhagwan says the reason you are engaged in a dharma will equal my reward.

From a tamasik perspective, someone who is engaged in a dharma for prosperity, their reward will be prosperity and that is it. Tamasik

More evolved than this, from a rajasik perspective the reason for then to be engaged in dharma is for purity, they want to be more calm, cheerful.

From a sattvik perspective the reason for them to engage in dharma is more that prosperity and purity, it is peace.

Remember, if you get purity, prosperity is included. If you go for peace, purity and prosperity both are included.

Bhagwan introduces another element here, he says that there is even a deeper reason for peace. The highest reason to engage in karma is ‘Love’. Why I am trying to understand my svabhava and engage into karma — love. Love for God. Love for Self. My reward naturally is love then, the word used is, Bhakti here.

Bhagwan after explaining all this to emphasize says, as you are engaged into karma, you are going to hurt yourself, other people around you, animals, plants, because karma is limited. If you act in a certain way I like you, if you don’t act in a certain way, i do not like you.

As you are trying to know your svabhava, follow your dharma, practice it — because practice makes paradise.

Bhagwan gives one more insight into how to avoid karma being limited, HE says

Engage into attitude of acceptance. Which means my svabhava may be rajasik, but the dharm Bhagwan is given me may be sattvik then I should try my best.

Swami Tejomayananda Ji highlights that Acharya Bheeshma is not pure sattvik, he is vishuddha sattvik. He is the purest of the pure, but was placed in a rajasik environment, being with the Kauravas. Mentally he was with Pandavas specifically Shri Krishna.

Our Vishnu Sahastranama, is the experience of the enlightened. When Yudhisthira asked the simple question to Acharya Bheeshma that please tell me how should I be a good king and Acharya Bheeshma started chanting Bhagwan’s names because he is free! He is not with kauravas any more.

Engage into attitude of acceptance with these examples, role models. Even Vibhishana was like that.

18.19 to 18.23: How this chapter begins is with Arjuna asking Shri Krishna that I know I have to let go. Me holding on to my ego is what has caused my cracted. I have to rebuild myself. And thus far Bhagwan has shared Tyaga leads to Sannyasa. Tyaga is the means, Sannyasa is the end. Tyaga is practicing non-doership in action. Sannyasa is non-doership in action.

Action is fundamental, but the vision attitude etc. should be one of non-doership.

Tyaga brings about calmness to the body, quietness to the mind, and stillness to the intellect. You will know this when you tell your equipment to be calm, still and quiet and they will do so. The evolution of this is samadhi. Sam mean well, aa means fully, dhi means placed. Well and fully placed ego, that which is causing restlessness. When the ego is well and fully placed in the spirit, that is sannyasa.

There are many types of sannyasa: Two we should know about are

1. Vidvat sannyasa: One has to let go of the ego. One is enlightened. So out of formality one takes sannyasa deeksha. Why formality? Because one is already enlightened. It is rare to come across such rishis. Example. Rishi Yajnyavalka, Shri Ramana (through kripa, bhagwan’s grace), Swami Tapovanam.
2. Vividisha sannyasa: Where one wants to renounce the ego and become enlightened. They come to the environment where one can be enlightened.

So here Bhagwan is talking about Sannyasa as the end. Other types of sannyasa comes since then.

Coming back to Tyaga as it is what we need to engage in right now, non-doership in action. If one is not engaged in tyaga, one is also not engaged in kshaya.

When Bhagwan Rama asked Vibhishana how he is living in Lanka, Bhagwan says living in Lanka is worse than living in Naraka. The reason being in hell, Naraka there is paapkshaya, you will come back when you kill your paap, you will exhaust your papas. But in Lanka it is not so. You may incur more papa, it is a Khalamandali. It is a machine, web of duhsanga (bad company). You may not even that you are sinning, there is no reaffirmation. So far us if we are not careful about not practicing non-doership in action we will not evolve. All the vasanas we have will stay and we will incur more, like living in Naraka.

So no tyaga, no kshaya. Only for the vidvat sannyasa is through Bhagwan’s grace. A way you will know that Bhagwan’s kripa is your way you will be more hopeful.

Now the most fascinating part of Bhagwad Gita begins:

Vimrishya etat Asheshena — reflect on what I have told fully.

yatha ichhasi tatha kuru. Now you feel what is right, you should do that. No that Prince Arjuna is ready.

Bhagwan educated him and now he is ready.

Ishtah -like, asi may dhridham kuru, tathah vakshyami may hitam: I will tell you again and give another insight into life.

Prati jane priya asi — you should know that whatever you decide, I am with you. how much I love you. Bhagwan is expressing his love and gratitude to Arjuna. Most unconditional love.

Discussion question: How do you know that God loves you?

Vivekji’s answer:

Upadesha and kshantih: available to all, but you get to feel that love. Kshantih in deep level means forgiveness, we still have another purposes other than God, but God forgives those distractions and he is patient and forgiveness. These are strong signs for Acharya Vivek ji that God loves Acharya Vivek ji.

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Srini Kasturi

Karma and Knowledge

Learning How to Think is a major part of our journey. Vedanta provides us topics such as “The many do not affect the One.” For illustration purposes think of the perceived objects properties not affecting the eyes. The eyes properties not effecting the mind. The many thoughts in our mind not affecting the spirit that illumines the mind.

Chapter 18 brings in growth fundamentals as it wraps up the Bhagavad Gita. It emphasis that growth is by Knowledge alone and not Karma. That is only when Karma is followed up by Knowledge, does Karma fructify into growth. Even Knowledge of Karma itself is essential.

Bhagavan’s Advisement levels for us grow into

· Karma x 1 = Karma

· Karma x 10 = Karta * Karma * Karana * Chesta * Adhistana

· Karma x 100 = Drishti * Karta * Buddhi = Vision * Attitude (of who is the doer) * Understanding (insulation to withstand through logic any external distractions)

· To execute the above equations, one needs Dhriti, forbearance, commitment inspite of obstacles. Dhriti helps one to perceive problems for what they truly are just challenges to stay on the path of Dharma in Karma. The fructification of Dhriti is Sukha that is not short term but is long term.

18.4 to 18.8

Crisis has many forms. For which, Identity crisis the underlying crisis. Identity crisis transcends all other crisis as it is at the core. Underneath even this Identity crisis layer is Atman. It is the degree of disassociation from the Atman layer that precipitates this identity crisis.

Crisis of Identity is the true coloration of one’s inner personality, more specifically personality conflicts and incongruencies.

It is against this quagmire of Identity crisis background, Bhagavan shines hope. He reminds us and assures us the we can change this inner color. To that extent our Gurus remind us that what Govinda is true, and to quote our Gurudev, in fact we must change our inner color. Color that transcended life times and has been affecting us across cycles of births and deaths.

His assurance gains us in that our ang person can transform to peace and so on. That is there is no mold we cannot break out of.

Swabhava and Dharma

Past our body sheath and breath sheath as we explore we learn more about our Swabhava. In fact the more we understand our Swabhava, the more we can understand our Dharma that will take us past our Swabhava. Thus Dharma contextualized per our Swabhava thus is our Swadharma.

· Swabhava and Dharma match in Satva and give us chitta shudhi pure mind

· Swabhava and Dharma mismatch in Raja and conflicts arise in and around us

· Swabhava and Dharma don’t match in Tamas and is harmful inside and outside

To the extent the match happens, to that extent full package of rewards materialize. That is:

· Doing Dharma for Prosperity brings Prosperity

· Doing Dharma for Purity brings Purity and Prosperity

· Doing Dharma for Peace brings Peace, Purity, and Prosperity

· Doing Dharma for Dharma brings Love (Bhakti), Peace, Purity, and Prosperity

That is, as one engages in Karma, hurt will happen. Even so continue the practice of adding Dharma to Karma. Doing so leads to the summation above. Thus, the practice (of Dharma + Karma) makes paradise.

Karma is limited but add Dharma and acceptance of situations and it allows one to grow.

Example:

Bhismacharya’s life is an example of such Vishuddha Sattvic living. Vishnu Sahasranama is the means Bhishmacharya seemed to have to gain enlightenment. He seemed to have gained insights when questions arose when in action mode using reflections through this prayer — on how to bring Dharma in to Karma.

Bhagavan’s Kripa

Bhagavad Gita is Bhagavan’s Kripa in action, in helping us learn how to get to our first base on Non-Doership

· Karma is 10 fold magnification on how to get to goal of Non-Doership

· Knowledge was 100 fold

· Tyaga is a 1000 fold magnification that Bhagavan provides for us

Tyaga and Sanyasa (Holding on to Ego — How do you let go)

· Non-Doership as verb / in action is Tyaga

· Non-Doership as noun / as actor is Sanyasa

· Tyaga leads to or is a means to Sanyasa

· This is because Tyaga leads to Calmness at Body level, which evolves to Quititude of Mind, which leads to Stillness of Intellect. Such calmness, quititude, and stillness are the qualifiers to be in Samadhi. That is only in calm, quite, still, personality is it possible to well and fully place the ego to rest in Spirit.

Clarification: Sanyasa Types we see

· Vid Vit Sanyasa = This is Being Sanyasa = Yagna Valka Maha Rishi and Sri Ramana are two examples

· Vidi Deesha Sanyasa = This is Commitment to the goal of Sanyasa = Most of our Swamiji’s are examples

· Bhagavan Krishna in Gita is referring to Vid Vit Sanyasa.

Tyaga and pro-sequence

· When one is not in Tyaga (active practice of Non-Doership) one is not in Kshaya (decreasing of Doership)

· Vibhishana lived toward Non-Doership in Action in Lanka itself. He is a great example of such living. His environment was even worse than hell. In hell demerits decrease but in Lanka, a Khala Mandali, demerits increase even in slightest of actions when one is not watchful to slippage of Non-Doership.

· Tyaga leads to Kshaya which leads to Kripa which leads to Vid Vat Sanyasa.

· Active practice of Non-Doership -> Decrease in Doership -> Increase in God as the Doer -> Established in Non-Doership

· A way to recognize if we lived in Tyaga consistently and long enough, is reflecting on how hopeful we are in any given day and situation.

Empowerment

· Bhagavan having taught the willful and reflective Arjuna during the preceding (compressing entire Gurkula living into just around 676) shlokas, then, expresses faith in Arjuna’s ability to decide. Bhagavan while affirming his faith in Arjuna, empowers him by expressing Bhagavan’s deep and firm love to the one who is straight as an arrow pursuing the knowledge that Bhagavan just shared.

· Bhagavan thus expresses to us that in surrender is when we recognize the embedded dearness God always had for the part of us that seek Him, and, the knowledge of Him.

Discussion — Kripa in life

· What we have is a gift

· That we are created

· We are in this class

· I am here inspite of me not because of me

· We are part of Him and we are suffering to the degree of perceived separation

· Thankfulness

· I could not have orchestrated how I came to Gurudev’s feet and to study of Gita

· Question dissolves when viewing the question from the absolute

· Vivekji’s answer — Upadesha (His advice is still accessible) and Kshanti (His forgiveness keeps giving me chances) are alive in my life. That is, He still shows Kshanti and shares Upadesha in my life.

During Q&A

· Finding Swabhava = Know thy self

· Dharma = Know thy self to lift thy self by thy self

· Rama asked Vibhishana to sit by His side — that is Kripa

· See God through your relationships

Exercise

· Make a chart for Chapter 18 for material covered till now

· Refer to Suneeta Menon’s chart for inspiration

Raw

· Overtly wear a reminder of Sanatana Dharma this whole week

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Bhagavad Gita Course 05/01/18

Sudhita Kasturi Chinmaya Mission Washington Regional Center

Reston, VA

Review:

The many does not affect the one. There are many examples of this.

· We all look at many objects with one pair of eyes that are unaffected by the many objects we are viewing.

· Diving deeper, the condition of the eyes does not affect my one mind.

· The many thoughts of the mind cannot affect that which is illuminating the mind, the spirit.

· Objects don’t affect eyes, eyes don’t affect the mind and the mind does not affect the spirit.

This is a simple example of learning how to think, which is more important than what to think.

BGC is an ideal forum to learn how to think which is especially emphasized in Chapter 18, wherein Bhagavan Krishna is teaching us that our evolution is going to be facilitated through knowledge.

· We will grow to our full potential via knowledge not via karma.

· Most people who have not been taught how to think, feel that the purpose of their life is karma.

· For the one who has learned how to think our only purpose is happiness and to reach happiness we need to have knowledge of happiness.

· We have been exposed to this knowledge of happiness for many years and for many weeks as part of this class. If this knowledge is not having the impact on our life it is supposed to it because we do not have happiness because we do not have knowledge of karma.

So throughout chapter 18 Bhagavan is taking us from the inside out of Karma.

· In every karma there is a karta, karana cheshta, adhishthana and daiva

· Bhagavan shares that the genesis of our karma begins with drishti/vision

· This is insight which expresses as karma/purpose which expresses as karta/attitude. The deeper my vision the deeper my purpose will be. This purpose will affect my attitude.

· The karta then manifests more as buddhi/understanding. This is the fuel while I am acting. What is my understanding of this action?

· This finally expresses as Dhriti/commitment so that when there are challenges while I am acting I can treat these challenges as training not as a problem.

o Only when we have knowledge of karma can our karma become more meaningful which in turn makes the knowledge more powerful.

o But if the karma is meaningless even when we are exposed to knowledge it feels like mere information

· The outermost expression of after dhriti is sukha/happiness.

o Those who know little about karma have small sukha

o Those who know a little more have more sukha but it is rajasic.

o This who follow the teachings of Bhagavan have sattvic sukha which is hard in the beginning and easy at the end.

Bhagavan displays his love for us by teaching at our level. Like us, Prince Arjuna, must also act and Bhagavan is giving him all this knowledge so his action is most rewarding.

18.14–18.18

We are all suffering from an identity crisis.

· As long as we think we are our equipment we know who we are and there is no crisis.

· But some of us know that we are more than our equipment.

· When we go past our equipment is when you have the opportunity to transcend your crisis.

Bhagavan knows this and that is why He takes us deeper and shares about the doer and not about the Atman or Sat.

· Each of us is born with a varna/color/texture of mind.

· We all have all the colors but each one of us is predominantly one color.

· Bhagavan says that we can change this predominant color.

To facilitate this change one must know their svabhaba, i.e., who we are deep inside. Deeper than the body and mind and more in the lines of the intellect and ego past the body and breath sheath.

The more we know of our svabhava the more we know our Dharma is to Be so Bhagavan provides a framework of roles and responsibilities for us to understand.

· When our roles and responsibilities are matched there is an overall growth and a feeling of peace and prosperity, which is sattva.

o Knowledge of svabhava knowledge +the knowledge of dharma leads to sattva which leads to growth inside and outside.

· When they are mismatched it feels like conflict inside and outside and that is rajas

· When there is a no match at all there is harm/himsa inside and outside which is tamas. As there is no sensitivity to who I am, there is no sensitivity to who you are.

Another frameworks is that of dharma and reward.

The reason for which we engage in dharma will determine the equivalent reward.

· Tamas: If someone who is engaged in dharma for the sake of prosperity their only reward will be prosperity

· Rajas: If someone wants more purity as they want to be more calm and cheerful they will get that purity which already includes prosperity

· Sattva: If someone wants peace then the reward will be more peace which already includes purity and prosperity

So if your goal is peace then the other rewards will automatically come to you.

When love for God or sat is the reason for engaging in karma you see Bhakti

· Karma is limited and as you are trying to know your svabhaba and perform your karma you will likely hurt yourself and those around you.

· The highest reason for engaging in karma is love. Love for God and Love for Self.

Thus my reward is love or Bhakti

· Practice makes Paradise.

Engage in the attitude of acceptance.

· My svabhava may be rajasic but my dharma places me in a sattvic environment so accept it and do your best.

o Bhishma was an example of vishudha sattva. He was the purest of the pure who was placed in an extremely rajasic environment with the Kauravas. He may have physically been with the Kauravas but mentally he was with the Pandavas especially Lord Krishna.

o

18.19–18.23

Arjuna asks Bhagavan, “I know I have to let go to rebuild myself but how do I do this?”

The answer to this is in tyaga.

· Tyaga leads to sanysasa.

· Sanyasa is the end and Tyaga is the means to attain it.

· Tyaga is practicing non-doership in action. Sanyasa is non-doership in action.

· Tyaga leads to calmness of the body, quietude of the mind and stillness of the intellect

· Only with this qualification is the evolution to samadhi (sam: well aa: fully dhi: place) possible.

· When the ego is well and fully placed in the spirit, that is sanyasa

There are two types of sanyasa:

1. Vidvat sanyasa: one who has let go of the ego which leads to one who is enlightened.You are enlightened and you take sanyasa deeksha as a formality. Examples are Ramana Maharishi, Tapovanji Maharaj.

2. Vividisha sanyasa: One wants to renounce ego to be enlightened. So we take formal sanyasa to bring in an environment that will facilitate this.

This distinction is important to understand as Bhagavan is talking about sanyasa as an end not as a means

Going back to tyaga:

· Tyaga is needed for us to engage in right action now.

· If one does not engage in tyaga one does not engage in the kshaya or decay of the ego.

· If we are not careful about practicing non-doership then we will keep the vasanas we have and incur more vasanas

· If there is tyaga there will be kripa/grace

· The only way to be free of the ego i.e., to attain vidvat sanyasa is through Bhagavan’s grace.

An indicator of Bhagavan’s grace in your life is when you feel more hopeful.

Now for the most interesting part of the Srimad Bhagavad Gita

Shloka 18:64

Bhagavan Krishna tells Prince Arjuna, “Reflect on what I told you fully and do what you feel is right”.

Bhagavan has taught Prince Arjuna. Now Prince Arjuna can make his own decision.

Bhagavan continues, “I deeply and firmly love you so I am going to share with you again. I am with you wherever you go and in whatever you do”

Bhagavan shares his love and gratitude with Prince Arjuna. He is telling him that by now Prince Arjuna should know how much the Lord loves Him.

This is a fantastic expression of the Lord’s unconditional love for Prince Arjuna. For the Lord’s unconditional love for us.

Discussion Question: How do you know God loves you?

RAW: Wear a religious sign overtly for the next week