Hari Om Parents,
Following was discussed in the e Balavihar class on May 17.
1. Class was conducted again using Zoom conferencing technology.
2. Initial prayers and Tapovan Shatakam verses were chanted.
3. We continued with the values taught by Sri Krishna in Chapter XII of Bhagavad Gita, where He enumerates 35 virtues or gems for us to live by. Bhagwan says he is showing us these gems so that we can make use of them and be happy. He says "anyone who lives by these virtues is My darling". Last class following values were covered Gem 16 - Free from dependence, anapeksah; Gem 17 - Be Pure, sucih; Gem 18 - Be alert, be prompt, daksah and Gem 19 – Unconcerned, udasinah.
4. Untroubled – gatavyathah:
When the Lord himself is carrying our burden why should we be troubled or worried? We should learn to do our best and leave the rest. People complain that God has forsaken us, especially with this Corona virus pandemic going on. But can mud ever forsake the mudpot? Gold forsake an ornament? In the same way God has never really forsaken us. Once a man had a vivid dream at the end of his life. He could see himself walking with Bhagwan on the beach and was able to replay his entire life. He saw two sets of footprints on the sand most of his lifetime, but during difficult times he saw only one set of footprints on the sand. This disturbed him and he asked Bhagwan that when I needed you the most I see only one set of footprints how could you forsake me? Bhagwan kindly replied and asked him to look carefully, the footprints that he was seeing was the footprints of Bhagwan himself. Bhagwan told him that during troubled times he was carrying him! So whatever happens we should remember that the Lord is with us. We should remain untroubled and unperturbed.
5. Renounce all undertaking - sarvarambhaparityagi
Means one who has renounced all desire prompted activities. Aaramba means beginning. To end all beginnings does not mean not to undertake any new actions. It implies that we do all the activities without having an egoistic feeling that I am solely responsible for any action we perform. If we carefully analyze and dig deep into the meaning of it we see that all our actions are controlled, regulated and governed by the world of things and situations around us. We are only a part of a long change of events that are happening in the world. No undertaking in our life in fact has an independent beginning or end. For example when we decide to play a game of football, we get the football out and have some friends over; play the game, enjoy and have a good time. But to play the game we needed a football which we did not make, gravitational force that needs to bring the ball down, we did not invent or manufacture the material with which the ball was made, have other people around us to participate with us so that we can enjoy etc. So even for a simple game there are so many factors involved, hence we should give up the attitude that I am solely responsible for doing certain thing or performing certain action.
6. Neither rejoices nor hates – na hrsyati, na dvesti
Does not rejoice upon gaining what is desirable and does not hate upon gaining what is undesirable. When we have mistaken expectation it will only result in disappointment. The fundamental mistake we make is that we wish permanent happiness in the world which is continuously changing. World is nothing but a play of pair of opposites. Joy and sorrow, pleasure and pain, heat and cold, darkness and light all are unavoidable. For example if you take a magnet it has north and south poles. If we cut it into two, each piece will have north and south pole, so no matter how small we cut the magnet into these two poles exist. Similarly two pairs of opposites exist in the world all the time. It doesn't mean we have to run away from the world, but we have to face it. We should not get too overjoyed when we get the desired object and not get too dejected or depressed when our desire is not fulfilled. A great devotee realizes these and rises about these pairs of opposites. We should face them bravely with equipoise holding onto the Lord. Short youtube video about equipoise shown (Swamini Supriyanandaji) – Lord Krishna is usually seen standing on one foot with flute in hand, more difficult to balance, here He is referred to as Banke Bihari (tribanga pose in dance). He is showing that no matter whatever twists and turns come to us either from within or outside we need to stay rooted – that is, we need to maintain equipoise. This can be achieved if we stay centered or rooted in our ideal.
7. Grieves not – no socati
Implies having no grief even while parting a beloved object. If analyzed carefully the happenings in the world, everything is bound by time and space, and nothing remains permanent. Things, objects and people decays with time. We bought up conservation of energy and matter. We can neither produce nor destroy matter, but matter when disappears it change into energy form even though we may not be able to see or perceive it. In the same way the substratum which holds the whole universe together, the Lord, neither changes nor decays; while the objects or people can decay & die. Knowing this we should not grieve excessively.
8. Desires not – na kanksati
When the whole area is flooded with water what is the use of a bucket of water. In the same way true devotee completely identified with the Lord is always satisfied. He does not have any egoistic desires. For him all his desires have been fulfilled as he has found eternal happiness within himself. Pujya Gurudev says that we need to understand we will never be fully satisfied by indulging in our desires. In fact the more we indulge the more our desires will increase. Moreover uncontrolled desires by themselves will lead to bondage and sorrow. For example if feel like eating a sweet, the first time we eat it might taste very nice and we feel happy, second or third time you may still be happy but extent of happiness decreases, it follows law of diminishing returns. But if somebody were to eat 10 or 20 sweets at same time he will start feeling miserable and positively uncomfortable. In the long run this habit can cause its own health problems. Understanding this fact we should know to control our desires, and channelized our energies in proper way.
9. Free from good and evil - subhaasubhaparityagi
Pujya Gurudev states that the objects of outer world yield joy or sorrow to us as a result of our healthy or unhealthy attitude towards them. The objects in themselves are neither good nor evil.
A farmer had an old horse which escaped. His neighbor came in sympathized with him because of his bad luck. The farmer said "good luck? bad luck? who knows?". Few days later the horse came back with a herd of wild horses. Now everybody started saying that the farmer had good fortune. Farmers again said "good luck? bad luck? who knows?". Later the farmer's son was training with the wild horses, fell down and injured his leg. Again the neighbor came to sympathize with him. Farmer again said "good luck? bad luck? who knows?". A few days later the Army came into the town and took all the young people to the war, the farmer's son because of his broken leg could not join the Army. The neighbor now said that his son was lucky. The farmer again said "good luck? bad luck? who knows?".
Things happen in the world, we label them as good or bad and then either feel happy or sad. But instead if you have faith in God, and accept whatever situations we face. Remembering everything happens for my own good for He knows what is good for me. This is the attitude of the true devotee. He has identified himself completely with the Lord and does not get affected by pair of opposites. He renounces totally the concepts of good and evil.
10. Be equal to friend and foe – samah satrau ca mitre
My right hand is neither a foe nor a friend to me, it is myself! Similarly for a man of wisdom, who realizes the oneness in everyone, he does not have any friend or foe, for he sees divinity in all. However estimation of people is a psychological assessment based on our prior experiences. Our attitude or persons may change with time. Our friend may become our enemy and sometimes one who was our enemy becomes our friend. Nature of relationships keeps on changing. Understanding this we should not get perturbed if people around us do not react the way we expect them to. But rather we should maintain equanimity in our relationships with others. If there is somebody that we cannot get along, we should avoid the person or situation but not create trouble or spread gossip about them. Short youtube video was again shown (Swamini Supriyanandaji). Our reaction to the external events or people depend on our likes and dislikes. Pujya Gurudev has said when faced with small irritations and frustrations we should learn to accept them with quiet cheer (titiksha). If we can change them then do so. If can't change people or external happenings, then we should accept the situation cheerfully. In this way or mind gets trained not to be reactive to our likes and dislikes. By doing so we will develop a pleasant and cheerful personality.
11. Same in honor and dishonor, in cold and heat, in pleasure and pain – samah mana-apamanayoh, samah sita-usnasukhadukhkhesu
Heat and cold indicate experiences at body level; pleasure and pain at level of mind; and honor and dishonor at intellectual level. Thus these pairs of opposite constitute the entire possibility of experiences in life at physical, mental and intellectual level. Things and people around do not produce similar reaction in everyone. The reaction is dependent upon interpretation of our own mind and intellect which is based upon our past experiences. Hence to an alcoholic a beer bottle will be very attractive while a teetotaler will shun away from the same beer bottle. What may cause pleasure to one may cause pain to the other. On analysis it is obvious that pleasure or pain is not inherent nature of the objects of the world, if they did they would have caused the same reaction to everyone. For example, nature of sun is heat; therefore heat is a common experience with the sun. On the other hand we don't see uniform experience of pleasure or pain with any object. Honor and dishonor are intellectual evaluations, and they also change with time. Only when we transcend our egoistic attitude and vanity we will be able to overcome these labels. Our interpretation of things and person are colored by our own mind and intellect. If you are able to detach from these equipments and attach ourselves to the Lord we can maintain equipoise.
12. Free from attachment - sangavivarjitah
The more one thinks about an object, the more one gets attached to it. When our thoughts run continuously towards an object it creates attachment. If we can reduce the thought flow towards an object the attachment will also get reduced.
Story - once there was an Emperor who had 20 precious, beautiful flowerpots. He was very fond of them and announced that if anybody breaks them, that person would be killed. So the servants were extremely carefully when they were cleaning the spots. Unfortunately one day while a servant was cleaning the pot, it slipped and broke into pieces. Emperor got extremely angry and told him that he will be put to death. Next day the servant was brought to the court. Suddenly in the court an old man appeared and told the Emperor that he can fix the broken part exactly as it was before. Emperor got very happy and brought the broken pot. But the old man said he wanted all the other 19 pots also to be brought to the court, so it was done. Now the old man took a stick and broke all the 19 pots. Emperor got extremely angry with this action and wanted to punish the old man. The old man told the Emperor that he got too attached to his pots because of which he was willing to take the life of his servant. The other 19 pots would have taken 19 more lives, instead you can take my life now. The Emperor realized his folly and forgave the old man and the servant.
In the same way extreme attachments makes perform wrong actions leading to unhappiness and misery. Unintelligent attachment to our body, mind and intellect is what causes us to dance to the happening around us. Again if we can detach from them we won't be slaves to these instruments but will become master of them. For this we need to continuously hold onto the feet of the Lord.
Pranam,
Mekhala Girish
Devender Akula
Sun AM 8th Grade Teachers
