Newsletter April 04, 2012

Weekly Classes

(All classes given by Swami Yogatmananda, unless otherwise stated.)

Bhagavad Gita class – March 30, Friday

Ch. 13 Verses 20-22: When we do a good deed, it is the Prakriti or the body, the changing & material aspect that is actually ‘doing’; but we naturally feel we (the unchanging aspect) should reap the benefits; likewise, we think if we do a bad action, we will have to suffer.  But who really benefits and who suffers?  If we accept that the body and mind are instruments, who is the user of these instruments, and where does this user reside?  The verses being discussed explain the relationship between perceiver and perceived.  Prakriti, that which is perceived, is composed of matter.  This category includes the mind, which is also matter and is subject to change.  (Thus we shouldn’t be perturbed if the mind is disturbed, because we are not the mind.) Purusha, or consciousness, does not change; it only witnesses.  The Purusha is what experiences the reward or suffering caused by actions.  Our associating Prakriti with Purusha causes bondage and suffering; if we know these two to be separate, then we will be free, but until then we are caught in the cycle of birth-death-rebirth and continue to experience pleasure and pain.  This Purusha is the same Self behind all forms, just as the sun, reflected in water contained in different vessels, is still the same sun. Swami Vivekananda was fond of saying that an aspirant has to be very courageous to accept that the "I" in all different bodies is the same "I."  Once we muster this courage and know this to be true, how much joy we will feel and how much freedom we will experience!   This--the tangible experience of the one Self in all forms--is true spirituality.

Who Is a Fool? - April 01, Sunday
According to Albert Einstein, a fool is someone who does the same thing over and over again but expects a different result. A fool is also the one who gets cheated, as on April Fool's Day, when someone pulls a prank at another person's expense. Some primary signs of being a fool include: not carefully looking into what will be beneficial for us; superimposing our likes and dislikes over reality and engaging in wishful thinking; and not "reading the writing on the wall." In the Dasa- Bodha (lessons given to one who is a servant of God), the sage Samarth Ramdas lists many secondary signs of being a fool.  Some of these include: praising oneself, endlessly repeating the glories of one's forefathers, not listening to the wise advice of others, collecting more and more enemies, having a hypocritical life of living one way in public and another way in private, continually relying on the charity of others, viewing one's family members as closer and more important than God, always staying in company where one is honored and receiving praise (and thus avoiding criticism and discomfort), showing a lot of anger at home where people are powerless to counteract it, being happy about someone else's suffering and feeling pain when someone else is happy, enjoying the quarrels of others, accumulating wealth through deceit and dishonesty, not forgiving others, and disrespecting books and other sources of knowledge.  Samarth Ramdas also described signs of the learned fool, who has a lot of ego; much steam comes out but the person has not put book learning into practice.  Such a person is like a heavily laden donkey who is carrying a load of sandalwood; the donkey knows only the weight and doesn't experience the sandalwood's fragrance. Such a learned fool tells other people what to do, but does not do it himself; the learned fool has got priorities all confused.  Samarth Ramdas tells all this so that we might become aware of our own tendencies to be foolish in life and work on eliminating them, so that we can become wiser.

The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna – April 03, Tuesday

Sri Ramakrishna was having an interesting conversation with Dwija's father about Dwija. Dwija's father, like any ordinary individual, had an opinion that one must earn money to be happy and successful in life. He wanted his son too, to lead this so called successful life. Master said - I ask people to live in the world but fix the mind on God. He also commented that Dwija was born with special spiritual tendencies which bring him to the Master. Each one of us has the tendencies to realize God; but in a dormant form. When they become dominant, one feels the urge to realize God. These tendencies can't be suppressed for long. Master was touching Dwija's father every now and then during the course of their conversation. Master had the power to change ones flow of thoughts even by mere touch. Then He sent Dwija's father to take a look at the temples.
 Later that evening, He was having conversations with Mahimacharan. Master was asking Mahimacharan's opinions about his young devotees like Nityagopal, Narendra and younger Naren.  He also asked about Kedar and Girish Ghosh. He said the youngsters give him peace of mind and many of them belong to His inner circle. Master specially loved these younger devotees as they were relatively free from the entanglements of the world. He mentioned that they will not have to do much as long as they know who am I and who they are.
Master started to have discussion about Samadhi with Mahimacharan. One description of Samadhi is - soul flies like a bird from Jadakasa - finite sphere to Mahakasa - the Infinite Space.