Hari om everyone,
Here's this week's summary. We started the class with meditation and chanting Chapter 4 of Bhagavadgeeta.
The Kyun Kyun (QQ - Quirky Question) of the day was - What is so fragile that just by taking its name, it breaks?!
Our smart students had the answer right off the bat!
Ans: Silence.
Yes, silence breaks the moment we say the word, silence. Similar are our shaastras... The ultimate truth that we are trying to understand is said to be beyond words (anirvachaneeya). But to understand it, we HAVE to use words.
After we listen to the words (shravana), we have to contemplate the meanings (manana). The last step is comprehending it (nidhidhyaasana).
We started discussing chapter 14. This chapter is called 'Guna-traya-vibhaaga yoga'. We had discussed kShetra, the field of action in the previous chapter. Here, we learnt that each of the elements of kShetra is nothing but a composition of the 3 guNas - sattva, rajas, and tamas.
- Sattva is predominantly pious in nature, aiding learning, benevolence, etc.
- Rajas supports activity, makes the person goal-driven and busy
- Tamas makes one dull, indolent, arrogant, and selfish
We need ALL of these at different times. If we are saatvic or rajasic during the night, we can't even sleep! We need tamas to sleep. So on and so forth...
We can only move from one to another and reach Sattva. But then, any of the guNas are like shackles that keep us in the cycle of birth and death. If we have mainly sattva, it is still like shackles, only made of gold :). Be it gold or iron, who wants to be bound? Hence, our goal should be to transcend all the guNas!
To understand this better, we discussed some popular Disney characters and their predominant guNa :)
We said, 'how about Ursula from Little Mermaid? What was she like?'
Similarly, we discussed the tendencies of Mufasa, Scar, Flynn, Belle, The Beast (in Beauty and the beast), Cinderella, Pocahontas, and many more.
It was fun reminiscing about the movies we had all watched many years ago :).
We got a solid understanding of the guNas.
But why are guNas a problem?
Because of them, we build likes and dislikes. We will work tirelessly either to obtain what we like or run away from what we don't! This running itself keeps us in the cycles of birth and death.
We discussed examples of how our mind works -
If someone says good things about me, I swell with pride and will be willing to do favors to that person!
But, if I overhear the same person bad-mouthing me to someone else, I will despise that person!!
Our thoughts change according to the moment. But our goal is to strive to have no such fluctuations from one end to the other (unlike a pendulum).
Krishna says we should strive towards being equanimous (samatva). The best example is a Roly-poly doll. Since it has a round base, no matter how many times we try to make it fall, it will get back up and retain its upright position. Things and circumstances keep changing. But keeping a balanced mind, shouldn't!
We finished the class with the 'Unique Statement Review' as always.
We will leave with these thoughts today -
See you all next week.
Regards,
Rashmi and Sirisha.
Rashmi and Sirisha.
