It has been a strange, strange year, 2020. And it isn’t likely to end anytime soon, never mind that 31st December will be upon us before we know it. Still, now that most of us, no matter where in the world we live, have experienced at least six months of a life very, very different to the one we knew and took for granted, it seems like a good time to look back and take stock of what has popularly come to be known as annus horribilis – Latin for ‘horrible year’.  

In fact, let’s begin with that phrase itself. Has 2020 really been as implacably awful a year for humanity as we have been led to believe? Or is it just part of the mega-churn, the samudra-manthan, that periodically manifests in human affairs, spewing forth toxic hAlAhala ahead of  immortality-conferring amruta? At the end of this particular churning, with all its tragic but unavoidable collateral damage, will we emerge into a saner, safer, more compassionate space? Or will we lapse again into our old, unexamined ways of being, living mindlessly from one day to the next as we pursue the glittering but transient earthly goals that the world goads us towards?    

Who knows? One cannot presume to speak for the world, but for each of us as individuals, this year, this time, has provided a huge opportunity for a system reboot. Whether we use the opportunity or not is really up to us – and remember, it isn’t too late to start (or restart, for we are creatures of indiscipline and sloth, dropping self-improvement projects as quickly as we take them up) on that journey now.  

What are some things to keep in mind as we get ready for some internal spring-cleaning? What are we aiming for? How do we know that we are making progress in the right direction? Most importantly, where do we look for guidance? 

The last question has a short answer: the Bhagavad Gita. In my mind, there’s no text more luminous or more reassuring, in times of spiritual crisis.  Here are only three insights out of an innumerable number.  

Be the yajamAna of the greatest yajna there is

One of the most powerful ideas in the Vedas is that of the yajna, or the sacrifice. The universe itself, says the Rig Veda in the Purusha Sukta, came forth as the result of such a yagna, in which the Supreme Being, the Purusha, was the sacrificial beast. The ancient ritual of the yajna was created as much to praise and placate the gods as to nourish them, leading to the stunning Vedic conception of the relationship between gods and humans – the gods nourish us, it is true, but it is only when we nourish them in return that the sacred cycle is complete. 

In the Gita, Krishna tells Arjuna that since it is impossible for anyone in a physical body not to ‘act’, the only way for Arjuna to ensure that the consequences of his action – the killing of his kinsmen as part of a dharmic war – does not ‘stick’ and become part of his credit or debit account, is to offer up that action as a sacrifice to the gods, a giving-back to the universe for all the blessings it has bestowed upon him. What’s more, he cautions, Arjuna must perform his action without expecting anything in return, not even the satisfaction of a job well done.   

That seems too high a bar for most of us to vault over, but is there a way for us to work our way, baby step by baby step, towards the same goal? How, for instance, can we nourish the gods in our own daily lives? What does it mean, in a practical sense, to offer our actions as sacrifice? Maybe, instead of railing against the unfairness of having to deal with toddlers and young children intruding constantly into our lockdown work-from-home lives (or having to once again share space with angst-ridden teenagers who should have been safely away at college) – we could treat what we do for our children, our spouses, our employers, and others, not as something we do for them, but through them for the gods, each action a small token of gratitude – for trees that flower on cue, spectacular sunsets, online marketplaces and good health in the midst of a pandemic. 

And we could decide to pour our highly flammable – and most toxic – emotions into the crucible that holds the spark of the cosmic fire inside of us, ensuring that it blazes up constantly, purifying as it consumes, lighting our way to our own higher selves. 

Now that would be a yajna worth performing. 

Become the tortoise that withdraws its limbs into its shell 

In the Gita, Krishna advises Arjuna to be a man of dispassion, a sage who is equanimous in what the world deems failure and success, who treats with equal respect both perceived friend and perceived foe, and remains unmoved by sukha and dukha, treating both impostors just the same. He asks him to be a stithapragna, that steadfast person who is not pulled in a hundred different directions by the thoughts that course through his monkey-brain at the speed of light. “Be thou instead, MahabAhu,” says Krishna (and I’m paraphrasing here), “the man who does his work calmly, purely out of a sense of duty, neither loving what he does nor hating it.”

This is great advice for a pandemic situation, in which our minds are constantly riven by anxiety and despair as all kinds of doomsday scenarios are presented to us, a mile a minute, by news outlets, WhatsApp groups, and concerned family and friends. What being a stithapragna really demands is paradoxical but not unachievable – while you surrender (the illusion of) control over your external circumstances, you tighten the reins on the horses of your own senses using your very powerful human faculty of discretion, withdrawing them into yourself like a tortoise his limbs, ensuring that your chariot maintains a steady course towards your higher, calmer self. 

Especially when all about you are losing their heads.      

Find your inner Yogeshwarah and your inner Dhanurdharah

In the very last verse of the Gita, Sanjaya lets his king know, unequivocally, that the side that will triumph in the war about to begin is the one that has both the master of wisdom – Yogeshwarah Krishna – and the master of action – Dhanurdharah Partha – as part of it. Taken metaphorically, Sanjaya’s message seems to be that it is only when wisdom and action, or ideas and deeds, work hand in hand, ‘on the same side’, that great victory will result in any endeavour. 

And that’s another pro tip for triumphing over the current situation of uncertainty and unease – get out of your own head, where cauldrons of pointless anxiety, resentment and rage simmer constantly, and turn both your ideas and your deeds, your thoughts and your actions, towards making the situation better for those around you that are less privileged, less fortunate, less able.

One benefit of such an enterprise is clear enough – with both your head and hands gainfully employed, there is less room all round for self-pity. But the bigger benefit, the coolest part, is that by engaging in this one endeavour alone, the other two goals that we talked about earlier are also automatically achieved – you sacrifice your own selfish concerns into the fire of your inner yagna while you focus on others’, and you take control the horses of your senses by heading them in one specific direction – loka-kalyan. 

Seriously, what’s not to like?  

Now then, will 2020 be our annus horribilis or our annus mirabilis (the miraculous year)? As Krishna so lovingly said to Arjuna on another faraway battlefield, all those thousands of years ago – Yathecchasi tatha kuru. Truly, the choice is ours, and ours alone, to make. 

To hear and learn more insights from Roopa Pai, watch her TedX Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckaEwJj2A1U

Author: Roopa Pai, Journalist and Children’s author

***

The post Lessons from the Gita in the time of a pandemic- By Roopa Pai appeared first on Global Gita.

To the first question, the answer is invariably ‘yes’. I should say, almost always it is a sure ‘yes’. And then I ask: “Can I trust you?” Then also they say ‘yes’. But when the right knowledge is presented to solve the problems of the mind – either to overcome afflictions or to get rid of certain prejudices or defects – I find that they are not able to act upon the knowledge. There is a resistance – originating from delusion or ego – operating in their minds. Lack of receptivity and openness invariably hinders correction and progress.

Yesterday I was speaking to you about afflictions of the mind, how to overcome them and how to generate peace and composure in the mind. The topic is still very much alive in my mind.

Everyone has a past, and also a future. In between the past and the future comes the present. It is this present that we have to be always concerned with. Life implies interactions. In the whole field of interactions, you as an individual remain the constant factor. The other factors, namely persons, places and events with which you interact, are various and continuously changing. But you, the actor remain the same. The results of the interactions, whether good or bad, ultimately come to you. If you want to solve the problem that confronts you, then you must understand that the factor that has to be taken into account and acted upon is yourself, and yourself alone.

You will find that in every family, there are always good people as well as bad people. Sometimes it may be that your parents are not good enough. May be your brother or sister is bad. Sometimes it can happen that your married partner is bad or some of the children are bad. This is the way of life. Good and bad go together. We are on this earth. There are many planets in the far away sky; and – do you know? – in astrology, some of the planets are considered evil, and some are considered virtuous. So, can you escape the effect of punyaand paapa from anywhere at any time?

All the individuals fall into one of the two categories, good or bad. Take one’s own home, one’s own neighborhood, one’s own village or township, one’s own limited circle in which he or she moves. In the professional life, in the domestic life, or in the social life, you will find good and bad.

So the interaction you have in life will also be with the good and bad, and the consequences will definitely be experienced by you. Rather than worrying about who is good and who is bad, particularly who is bad – because the ‘bad’ makes you suffer – why don’t you focus on the important factor that “it is I who suffer”? “Can my present sufferings be set right or not?” – why don’t you think about it?

All the past actions and their results are only in your memory. Understand this first. People generally complain: somebody said this, somebody did that, somebody behaved in a wrong manner. Who says so? Is it recorded in the air? Is it imprinted on the earth or water? Is it ever embossed in the sky? All these events are only in your memory. So, it is your memory that makes you suffer. It is not the people who make you suffer. When will you understand, my dear children, this simple truth?

You will still say: “X behaved wrongly, Y spoke harshly, their treatment was bad.” Agreed! But right now, where are those behaviours or treatments? Are they still around? They were an event, a bygone episode of a few minutes or an hour or a day. And all of them have gone. You have only your own memory left with you. And you are still suffering from the past – now dead – in the form of your memory.

Understand, my dear children, the mind that is now afflicting you, can be made to enjoy the memory of something good provided you do that good today. The great Mahabharata war was over and Yudhishthira said: “Though you say I have gained victory in the war, I say I have lost!  I have lost peace of mind! I feel miserable! I am pained to the core! Of what use is the kingdom which I have won?  I shall go to the forest again to live on fruits and roots and do tapasya. Earlier I went to the forest defeated in the game of dice. Now I shall go to the forest, having won over my enemies.” None could console him!

Finally he was taken to Bheesma Pitaamaha, who was lying on the bed of arrows awaiting his death. Bheeshma said: “My dear grandson, the whole event has already taken place and nothing can change it; none can make it otherwise. An event or an action or a consequence once taken place, is history. It is a memory and you are suffering from it. If you agree that past actions in the form of memory can put you to suffering, my dear grandson, listen to this truth. The present action will also become past, and they will also form another memory. The new memory will overcome the past memory and just as the present memory victimizes you and puts you to grief, the new memory – that you must consciously build from now on, if you listen to my words – will also begin to delight you.

“Resolve and engage yourself to do some good and benevolent acts. Take to some chosen, virtuous acts now. Perform them with devotion. These actions too will have their phalas, results. Both, the previous and the present phalas, will live in the form of memory. When you find yourself in their company, the new memory will start delighting you. Therefore, my dear son, go and perform an asvamedha yaaga.”

Yudhisthira agreed. The great asvamedha yaaga required years of preparations. Being occupied with the preparations from then on and after performing it, Yudhishthira’s mind began to develop new memories based on new events, new associations and new interactions. And then, whereas the earlier memory was afflicting him, the new memory started giving the sought after relief, freedom, and salvation. He was free of all afflictions and was able to conduct the affairs of the kingdom in peace and tranquility till the end of his life.

My dear child, will you take your lesson from this? Understand that nobody has caused your suffering. It is the memory in your mind that inflicts suffering. Instead of being inflicted by the past memory, create a new memory. Allow some time to pass. Let a year or two pass or may be even three years and have your chosen interactions. Interact with the best people, with noble people. Talk of good subjects. Write and think of good and pleasant matters. Write the name of God. Write anything that you like. Go on copying Bhagavadgeeta. Write Visnu Sahasranaama. Go on writing whatever you like – the Upanishads one after the other. These are present day holy associations. No one interferes there. No relative stands in your way. Go on developing new interactions, new associations, new memories. Then, you will find, just as old memories were victimizing you, the present developments will form a new memory in the hands of which you will be peaceful, prosperous, and fulfilled.

Actually, everything that I am saying is an open book. But it has remained a secret only because it is untried, untapped and unemployed by people.

Everyone has got a past – there is no question of choice about it.  If you start reflecting over your own birth, your own parents, your own family relationship, you will find that there are many things which your sober mind will not accept – but again, it is not a matter of choice. May be you would have liked to have a different brother, may be a different sister, may be even a different set of parents. But what is the point!  No choice about it, either ! But from now on you exercise your choice. My dear children, this is what the satsang is for.

Be associated with the satsang. There are good people here. You can interact with them, listen to good things, understand good things and no body will put you into trouble. Let your mind delight in the present memory, in the present scope, in the present interaction. This is the way of setting right your aggrieved mind.

Harih Om Tat Sat.

Author: Poojya Swami Bhoomananda Tirtha

The post Achieve peace and composure in the mind appeared first on Global Gita.

“When you move in the world of senses, free from attachment and aversion alike, there comes peace in which all sorrows end, and you live in the wisdom of the Self.”

Spiritual excellence comes from the readiness to embrace the true nature of the world as well as our personality.

In this session Swami​ Bhoomananda Tirtha​ guides us through the wisdom Krishna imparts Arjuna on how grief can also become an occasion for spiritual growth.

Grief has forever been the oppressor of mankind; Arjuna grieves at the prospect of having to kill his teacher Drona and grandfather Bhishma in the battle. This grief has engulfed him.

In order to set Arjuna’s constricted mind right and rescue it from grief, Krishna endows him with a wealth of wisdom and says, “You grieve for those who are not worthy of being grieved at, and yet speak the words of wisdom; the wise do not mourn the dead or the living”.

The Soul alone is the true identity of man and it never ceases to be. The body is ever perishable.

The Soul is eternal; is ever present. The fight in the battle is between mortal bodies. The Soul is immortal, is only one and same for all.

Arjuna’s sorrow was colossal and immeasurable; he was not able to contain it. But after listening to the spiritual wisdom from Krishna, he says, “My confusion is gone and clarity has dawned on me. I am prepared to fight not one (Mahabharata) war, but a score of them.”

As we try to understand this life lesson from Krishna to overcome grief, Swami Bhoomananda Tirtha puts it so persuasively and lucidly, “There are 7 billion people living on this planet, but in the history of humanity over 100 billion people have lived and died. Imagine, if all those 100 billion people were alive today, will there be a place on this planet for even ants to crawl?” The message I gathered here is that we should let the cycle of life go on as a wholesome expression and not be partial, we need to develop the right, even-minded attitude towards life.

To drive home this point, Swamiji questions, “When you put on a dress, are you the dress? You live in a house, are you the house? Similarly you live in a body, you move in a body, buy you are not the body. You are the Soul.”
To understand spiritual excellence we first need to acknowledge the reality of the spiritual dimension, the existence of the Soul.

In Chapter 3 Verse 42 of the Bhagavad Gita we understand the hierarchy of our existence.

इन्द्रियाणि पराण्याहुरिन्द्रियेभ्य: परं मन: |
मनसस्तु परा बुद्धिर्यो बुद्धे: परतस्तु स: || 42||

indriyāṇi parāṇyāhur indriyebhyaḥ paraṁ manaḥ
manasas tu parā buddhir yo buddheḥ paratas tu saḥ

“The senses are superior to the gross body, and superior to the senses is the mind. Beyond the mind is the intellect, and even beyond the intellect is the Soul”

Our mind alone produces happiness, the mind is the source of joy, joy is an emotion, it belongs to the mind, so if you want to be joyous, ask the mind to produce it and deliver it, that is what spiritual excellence means.

To sum up this wonderful session, Swamiji talks about embracing suffering in the same way one would embrace happiness, in a similar grandeur, he asks us to be magnificent in both happiness and sorrow as one does not and shall not exist without the other.

We end on an emphatic note with Swamiji uttering this powerful phrase to summarize his message.

“Become a magnificent performer, an exalted performer, a superlative performer, and also a magnificent enjoyer and sufferer”.

The post Spiritual Excellence in Daily Life appeared first on Global Gita.