Hari om everyone,
Since I am away in India, Aruna Aunty graciously agreed to teach our class this week. One of our students, Anshu, took detailed notes and wrote down the synopsis for the class. Thanks to both of them, we have our weekly update below :).
We began class with a recap of Chapter 1 of the Bhagavad Gita: we discussed Arjuna's mindset before the battle and how Krishna navigated the balance between hearing out a friend and advising Arjuna as a mentor. We found that, while Arjuna was extremely confused about what to do, Krishna did not step in to help him until Aruna completely surrendered to Krishna and asked for his help. Often in our own lives, it can be difficult to communicate with others if reason is shrouded by emotion and confusion. It is important to ensure others are receptive to our communication before attempting to share a message with someone to make sure it is listened to and understood.
We began class with a recap of Chapter 1 of the Bhagavad Gita: we discussed Arjuna's mindset before the battle and how Krishna navigated the balance between hearing out a friend and advising Arjuna as a mentor. We found that, while Arjuna was extremely confused about what to do, Krishna did not step in to help him until Aruna completely surrendered to Krishna and asked for his help. Often in our own lives, it can be difficult to communicate with others if reason is shrouded by emotion and confusion. It is important to ensure others are receptive to our communication before attempting to share a message with someone to make sure it is listened to and understood.
After recap, we delved into one of the most important verses of chapter 2, verse 47:
कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन |
मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि ||
karmaṇyevādhikāras te mā phaleṣhu kadāchana |
mā karma-phala-hetur bhūr mā te saṅgo'stvakarmaṇi ||
Thy right is to work only, not to the fruits thereof
Do not be motivated by the fruits of action
And let not your attachment be to inaction
We began dissecting this verse line-by-line.
In the first line, Krishna discusses the need for us to work our hardest and leave the rest to God. While many external factors may be outside of one's control, the one item that is in our control is the amount of work we put in. Therefore, it is important to invest effort in our desired outcome, as that is the best chance of achieving it.
We then jumped to the third line of the verse, in which Krishna discusses a tamasic mindset of being inclined to not work. We used the example of studying for a test: if we decide that a given subject is too difficult and not worth studying for, we can be almost certain of our failure. Having an attachment to inaction, or being attached to short-term pleasures rather than our long-term goals, can prevent our progress towards these goals.
We then moved on to the second line of the verse, which is by far the most misinterpreted line of the verse. In this line, Krishna discusses a rajasic mindset of being propelled solely by the results of an action. Aunty posed us all with a question that we found difficult to answer initially: now is it possible to not be motivated by the results of an action? After all, is it not the possibility of the result that makes us begin working in the first place? Many sages and Swamijis tell us to offer our work to the Lord and therefore not care about the fruits of our labor, but is this applicable to us all? We found that the answer to this question is -- no, it is not reasonable. Most of our daily actions, even actions as basic as breathing, are done with a final intention in mind. So what was Krishna talking about in this line?
We referred once again to the example of studying for a test. Let's say we have a difficult math test and we want to create a study plan. If, during each and every phase of our plan, we continue to think not about the specific topic we are going over, and instead think, "Hmmm, if I finish this unit, I will have earned at least 20% on the test", we are not focusing on truly learning the material, but instead on the end goal. It will be difficult to absorb any information due to the focus solely on the final percentage grade we receive. This is applicable not only in the realm of math tests but throughout our lives. It is reasonable and encouraged to set a goal for our work, but it is important to focus on the work it takes to get to the goal -- otherwise, we will be unable to wholeheartedly focus on our improvement to get to the place we want to be.
All of these concepts now made sense to us, but we then delved into how to establish these ideas in our day-to-day lives. Aunty introduced us to the concept of equipoise: being of a steady mindset despite any external factors. If we can control our minds to operate within certain constraints of high and low, we can prevent ourselves from wearing out over time. For those who do not have equipoise, the mind constantly fluctuates between high and low, preventing the mind from ever being truly calm. Much of this fluctuation can come from our Ego, which propels us to think in terms of "I" and "I Want" -- a mindset that feeds into the idea of focusing on the fruits of our work. By practicing a certain degree of non-attachment and intentionally focusing on developing this equipoise, we can focus not on the fruits of our labor, but on the individual steps that lead up to our goals. Then, regardless of whether our goals have been reached or not, we can have security in knowing we have worked our hardest towards the goal, preventing us from reaching a state of extreme happiness or despair.
Thank you.
Next week, Jacqueline Aunty will come and teach book making in our class. It will be a keepsake kind of a book! The class will be in the basement only for this week. Be sure to be there on time.
I will see you all after that. Take care and stay warm during this winter weather event!
Regards,
Rashmi.
Rashmi.
