Video 37

37. Bhagavad Gita I Chapter 3 Verse 31 I Swami Sarvapriyananda

yes it's recording did bill raise his hand okay yes bill go ahead i have a question from last week yes you talked about verse 27 let me go to verse 27 yes in that verse it said all action is done by property yes not by this individual self that's right whereas sri ramakrishna constantly says i'm a yantra entry yes you are the you operate the machine yes how do you reconcile these two ways of putting it when we identify with the body and mind as we usually do we don't say that i'm switching to body and mind identification now but that's our our default mode as it were we think we are this person and here the primary delusion is i am in charge i do actions and this is my body this is my mind we'll talk about this today actually it'll come up and these are meant for my purposes and i am i am acting through them and this is actually a very big mistake because almost everything here in the world and in our body i mean just this biological machine almost everything going on here is being done by prakriti by nature there's almost very little that we are directly in charge of i mean all the things that are going on in the organ systems in the tissues in the cells of our body we would be immediately overwhelmed if we were put in charge i mean if nature says okay you drive you think you're going to do a better job than me we're going to die within minutes i mean we probably have to call an ambulance he'll kill us faster than the coveted 19 trying to run our body by ourselves similarly for our minds too where our thoughts impulses memories and desires bubble up from and then we think i want i like this i hate that and then we act upon it all of it thinking that we are doing it and yet behind behind the scene there is nature mother nature is doing all of this right now acknowledging this at this level then we must say thou art are doing everything and this is a much better way of saying this then you know mother nature does everything um thou art the controller i am just a machine in your hands that's that's an attitude which srinamar krishna liked he said it's much better thou not not i which is actually a more practical more true thing to say right now than to say the next step you know what they are saying here that you are the witness prakriti does everything and you are the witness you're the witness consciousness that's the next step i am consciousness i am the witness is something that comes only when the mind has been purified enough to see this as the truth right now it's just a concept for me right now it's much better to first recognize that whatever is going on in my life i have so little control over it yes i do something i have free will but a lot is done by god by nature whatever you say and to recognize that is that sri ramakrishna's attitude saying that thou art the operator and the machine uh i am the house and thou are the one who stays in the house and things like that i am the chariot and our the drive driver of the chariot that's a power spiritual attitude which actually is which tallies with what the bhagavad gita says is that what you wanted to ask yes you know it seems that the gunas are so impersonal that god is personal yes but you're saying they're equivalent that god is running the groups yes the gunas belong to god the gunas the sattva rajasthanis they are constituents of prakriti of nature if you ask what is going on here even from a scientific perspective it's nature it i mean biologically and physically outside its nature doing just about everything here now if you ask what is nature so nature is the power of god beyond nature there is god nature is prakriti or maya and god is ishwara the one who wields this maya we are in the under the domain of maya but maya is under the control of god so yes it's nature it's the gunas which is doing everything to begin with but the gunas are nothing other than prakriti or nature and prakriti is nothing other than the power of god so ultimately if one says no i think god is doing everything you would be right you'll be right but through nature so how if you say how do i know that god is doing things where do i see god i don't see god i don't even see god acting look but you do see nature acting this body for example you know really we said this is mine and i'm in charge of this and as i said there's very little going on here which i am in charge of even if i say it's mine in what sense is it mind i mean one swami put it in a humorous way he said um show me your papers to show who who gave you the body where are the where is the papers saying that you own the body um did somebody give it to you as a gift no did you make it no do you own the materials out of which it is made the sky and fire and air and water and earth no does it obey you no it doesn't thank god it doesn't so in what sense is it mine it's just about virtually no sense it's more like that story of uh that man who was galloping through the village on a horse looking very serious you know charging through the village and the villager asked sir where are you off to and the man galloped past and he looked back shouting i don't know ask the horse so we are on this horse we are on on a journey but we are really very little of it is in our control to recognize that to say that the gunas are working to say that prakriti is working and to say ultimately it is god who is in charge is to recognize the truth let's recognize the truth i am brahmana that's a far cry i was reading somewhere that sri ramakrishna saw somebody was chanting sawaham i am he i am that srirama krishna observed this and he said he went and scolded him and said um what is this first say not i but thou naham not me thou my lord first do this and then when the mind is purified then the next thing will come he didn't say that but he just said don't say i i am he say thou not me so this is what is being said here yes all right so that's a good good summary but how do we go there how do we get to this position the 30th verse which we did last time did we do the chant the we haven't done the mangalachara vasudeva ramadanam devaki paramanandam krishnam one [Music] last time we did the 30th verse which is very important the 30th verse sums up the entire teaching of karma yoga which shri krishna wants to teach in this third chapter what was said in the 30th verse renouncing all actions in me with a spiritual awareness of spiritual consciousness giving up all desires and this idea of position do your duty fight this battle being free of all cares of all anxiety uh and stress so this is the idea of this is the teaching of karma yoga notice the elements first adiat machetes very important the whole purpose is guided by the goal a spiritual goal the goal of human life is god realization my goal is god realization this must be acknowledged until we come to this this clear acknowledgement we are still worldly in the sense that still the world is our goal when we make god our goal this is called a dhatma chaitasa once i make up my mind goal of my life is god realization or the goal of life is god realization i now acknowledge it this is going to be my goal forever um then how do i practice what do i have to do now my sarvani karma is an issue action will go on work will go on my life will go on but now what i do is this is no longer for my own sake or for my own little purposes all work is now worship of god in whichever form you love god as krishna or rama as shiva or durga or kali or vishnu as allah or as our father in heaven or jehovah in whichever form you worship god i offer all my actions why all actions religious actions and secular so-called secular actions you see before this what was happening secular actions are of course for me and even the so-called religious actions which i performed going to temple and church doing rituals they were basically for improving my worldly life god will bless me my life will go well and that is the purpose my life will go well that becomes the purpose and god is a help god helps me to take care of my day to day life that's still worldly this is different now once we have got the the ultimate goal of god realization now all my actions are for that purpose so whatever i do all my spiritual actions my meditation my repeating the mantra my puja my guitar study the service that i i the money that i offer for good causes whatever i do is now i'm worshiping my lord i'm offering just as you offer flowers in the shrine i offer these continuously throughout the day sarvani karmani both so-called secular and so-called religious now everything becomes spiritualized let there be no no division between the secular and the sacred anymore then what else nirashi without selfish desires till now all my karma had desires may i be healthy and my own health my family's welfare money and pleasure and success all of these goals i had and behind all of these goals was one purpose i want to be happy i want peace i want ultimate lasting fulfillment and since i'm not getting it through any of these means i have been pursuing these means for my whole life and we don't know how many lives i'm not getting it now i have realized that actually god realization is the goal and i will get the same thing which i wanted real peace lasting joy and fulfillment i will finally get it through god realization so now not for my selfish desires things will still keep still keep happening as you work you will get get your salary you will get as you do good things people will praise you if you eat pleasant things you will get pleasure all of those results of actions will still keep coming to us that will not stop but the difference is this earlier what was happening was i was working hard to get certain things which i wanted desirable things pleasant things nice things which i thought would make me happy and i was working to get those things i was working to avoid things which i did not want people i don't like jobs i don't like activities food all those things i'm trying to avoid because i thought i don't like that that will give me it will be unpleasant and these are the things which i like little it is pleasant let me avoid this and let me pursue that that's what i was doing till now now what happens is because all my karma is now worship of god because i'm now offering everything as worship of god when you offer something to god in hindu pujas you offer food to the lord and once you when you offer food the food which you offer to the lord is called bhoga when you offer it to the lord luckily for us the lord doesn't eat much whatever god eats we don't know but uh everything more or less comes back to us and that is called prasada prasada so in the worship of god all actions the results all actions are now worship of god puja and all the result of action is now prasada earlier what was there all actions were karma and the results of action were karma good and bad but now all actions are puja and all the results the results will keep coming the results are now prasada in prasada now i don't have likes or dislikes when i go to a temple after the puja when the prasada is handed out will i start picking give me the mango i don't like the banana no because it's it's not a question of a mango or a banana or a pear anymore it's a fruit which has been offered to the lord and now it's the sanctified whatever comes to my hand my whole idea is different now similarly whatever is coming because of my past karma now i will accept it as prasada no longer are there specific selfish desires to fulfill this is the big idea behind nirawashi no personal selfish desires anymore it is all worship of the lord and whatever happens now is acceptable to me because it is all prasad it's all sanctified so karma and result of karma are replaced by worship and prasada the sanctified you know offerings neerama so this relates to what bill had asked a little while ago nirmala means not mine so till now i had thought all of this is mine and for me world for me body is mine and for my purposes now i realize none of it is mine nor is it for my purpose it is it all belongs to the lord and it is for god realization um near mama and i realize as we were talking ah just a while ago nature does everything how little credit i can actually take if i am truthful even from the medical point of view even from a scientific point of view how little is under my control how little do i consciously do almost everything is done by nature so by the gunas of nature knowing this crediting god with it it's not mine it's dying as sri ramakrishna told that would-be non-dualist and scolded him now don't say i am he say not i but thou my lord. nirmama means that not mine not i thou my lord surrendering moment to moment our activities and the happenings of life to god now what do you do sit and meditate give up everything no you do you yes fight the battle of life family duties responsibilities job career community as a human being in in the society of other beings whatever it needs to be done whatever comes to you do the best what you can fight the battle of life but we got a jorah free of fever a very beautiful term free of fever free of anxiety when we are doing karma with desire there will always be anxiety there will be anxiety there will be fear stress terror temptation and their fever always we are in a fever and a mental fever here vigorous means absolutely free of anxiety everything that i do is the worship of the lord everything that happens is by the will of the lord my goal is the lord only none of this belongs to me even this life it belongs to the lord the world belongs to lord and i belong to the lord why why do i have to worry the one who has been running this world before my birth is running the world right now will keep on running the world after this particular little life of mine is over the ramakrishna nanda ji was the disciple of sri ramakrishna and he started our ashram in chennai in the ramakrishna in chennai so in the early days so there are many interesting incidents one day one gentleman came so he was um interested in many social reform programs good good projects he started telling sashi maharaj raswamiram krishnanji that this has to be done that has to be done and sashimaj calmly sat and listened and then after that he said i wonder what god did before you were born so it is the lord's word the lord will do everything and through us also the god does things through people and through us the lord will do lord will do his work another beautiful incident uh this is recorded by sister deva mata who is an american sannyasin who went from the united states in fact her ashram is close to the new york cohasset so she went from there to india in the early 20th century and she lived for some time in madras and she traveled to other places in india and she observed swami ramakrishnan at close quarters one day swami ramakrishnan she was telling her about his struggles in life from his as a young monk after the passing of sri ramakrishna the struggles he underwent sacrifices in setting up the monasteries in in in chennai and so on and since the devamata thought she writes that i was indignant that such a holy noble soul why does he have to suffer so much and i could not contain myself anymore and i burst out said swami why do you have to suffer so much and the swami became you know agitated and excited he said what what do you mean this little life let the lord do with it what he will my true life is eternal my life is eternal i'm i am the same i didn't explain my true life is eternal this little life belongs to the lord let him do with it what he will see this is absolutely without any anxiety or worry about it success failure what have i achieved what have i not achieved did things go well did not go well it's not yours it none of it is ours and that's a great relief it's the lord who will take care of things let us do our best this is karma yoga um i think no there was no hand right let us go on to the next verse 31 so this is an important verse 30th was a very important verse it summarized the entire teaching and very practical also oh there is a question giant would you call them out yes you're next please go ahead to to have this kind of an attitude one has to first have real i don't know what mentally you will be prepared it's not easy for everyone to have this kind of value what is the preparation what is required to get to this kind of state right as you said one must have a mental preparation exactly that's what we're talking about you see 30th verse the key word where do you begin you begin with adhere you don't begin with my son yes you're giving up all actions to me no before that one must first have this clear make a clear decision what do i want in life and i decide that i want god realization in life now it starts from there that is the preparation that much is enough it will happen slowly it's not that immediately one will become a karma yogi but it will start from there so and don't worry so prabhupada is a very intense practitioner so he's always anxious whether i'm doing properly or not sadhana don't worry we are all on the path and we are all making progress so we all have the adhd the spiritual orientation that i want god realization otherwise why would we here for for the gita class that's why we are here um yes anybody else yes you are next yes this about you interpreted it is um whether here it gets interpreted as surrender and completely write the philosophy how does an advaita interpret the same word same way remember is not again advaita is not against this is what we were discussing in the mandukka class those who are in the one duke class and godhapath says there is avivada aviruddhasha there is no contradiction of advaita with any philosophy so it is completely non-contradicted so what an advaitan does is advaitan first makes a difference between the paramar tikka and the vyava harika vavaharika means transactional here i am this person in this body this is my life now what do i do i have got the goal of god realization so this is veva harika transactional i read that i am brahman brahmasmi the whole world including this life body and mind everything is an appearance in brahman but i am that brahman i read all that but right now i'm not there that means i have not realized it it's if i had these questions would not arise i would not need any of this at all the very fact that i need it means that i am on a spiritual journey to realize that paramartica satyam that ultimate truth now at the vehicle level transactional level i am a jiva really i am brahmana but right now for practical purposes i am a jiva because i have not yet realized it so as a jiva now what do i need to do does a gy experience the world as dualistic and all dualistic practices become useful so we have discussed this earlier also shankaracharya's structure of sadhana spiritual practice for we need purification of mind for purification of mind so impure mind is a problem pure mind is the solution and the method for pure mind is karma yoga this whole third chapter this 30th verse for example is it dualistic yes yes ultimately non-dualistic but in appearance practically transactionally in empirically verbal level dualistic then next with a pure mind i need concentration so distraction of mind is the obstacle and concentrated mind is the solution method is upasana meditation so yoga becomes useful again dualistic and after that with a pure and concentrated mind when i come to advaithic teachings shavana madana nidhithas and it flashes upon me aham brahmasmi when i realize that i am brahman only one thing has to be and that is non-dualistic but one thing has to be clear when i felt it was dualistic at that time the truth philosophically speaking technically speaking it is actually non-dualistic it's just that i don't realize it it's better for me to keep the dualistic paradigm and practice accordingly knowing keeping in mind holding on to the ultimate reality that it is non-dualistic ultimately that brahman is the only reality suram krishna said hold on to the truth of advaitha then you practice everything else yeah so this is the answer dwaythic practices are entirely accepted by shankaracharya only philosophically is advaithic and they lead to advertising conclusion and advertising enlightenment yes there is one more question okay let's take another question you're next uh swamiji panama so my question is actually i saw your video sometime before when you were telling about the story of swami who was a very nice very great mathematician and how you met him uh while going in the morning overnight he worked on one problem and then he said to you that how could i sleep before solving that problem how can i sleep so that was complete devotion in his head that he was trying to solve one problem dedicating it to god and recently i was looking to a karma yoga lecture which which you recently gave it and i was listening to it and there you told that you have to pull back as well at one point so how to understand these two things because when um when i worked i started doing work with a dedication with 100 concentration i completely forget the forgetfulness how to realize that you have completely forgot and then you have to pull back yes sometimes time to time this pulling back is missed out i understand swami vivekananda had said you must learn to empty the bucket empty the bucket means is the secret of success is attachment and detachment completely pouring yourself into something and at yet and ready at the next moment to withdraw yourself completely and that sounds very difficult first of all our big problem is distraction we're unable to give hundred percent to anything mind is continuously scattered and distracted there is that example which i gave of the mathematician is mahan maharaj who is a monk and a brilliant mathematician that was an example of concentration of focus that focus is necessary in spiritual life this is what it means slowly we'll develop it or if you say something like that people get disheartened that i don't have that kind of focus we have some focus to begin with so let's start there but also step back from it um there is another level at which people can be very focused on a certain thing their favorite activity or job or book or whatever it is and unable to dissociate from it and that leads to suffering so knowing that the mind is an instrument i am not the mind so when i put the mind to work on something i'm using the instrument for this i am still separate from it you don't have to think about it all the time if you do you cannot concentrate but this knowledge has to be there and so when the necessity comes for stepping back you know that you are already separate from the mind the mind which has been given to that job is something separate from me and now i take it up from this job and i put it somewhere else if i am totally identified with the mind it will be very difficult to separate myself from what i'm concentrating on because then it will be like i am pulling myself apart and it will feel like that um so this is one actually it's a sankian idea of consciousness and its object yes so attachment and detachment these are two powers and both must be cultivated but first is the power of um i won't call it attachment focus right now big problem for most people is people lack focus very scattered that's where the mahanmaraj example came in but uh swamiji um there was a one thing as well because with tremendous uh when somebody focuses too much on one thing there is kind of attachment that is uh that comes with it for example if i love my work too much there is kind of even though i am at the end dedicating my work to the lord itself this is the idea that i started working yes but at after some point um you if that work is not completed for example then this kind of um this hardness uh if i put it in the right words you feel very disheartened right i understand what you're trying to say no the work has its own parameters of success so it must be done skillfully it must be done in time in budget it must be brought to a conclusion the result must come all of these are aspects of the work and they should be done properly see when you do work as a puja would you would want to do the puja halfway because i'm practicing attachment and detachment i'm doing the puja half and i'm going to detach now from it no that's disastrous puja also has to be done with tremendous focus and finished as prescribed similarly all work has to be done now i am doing work as worship my whole focus is actually ultimately god even though in the time of work i'm not thinking about god if i'm focusing entirely on the work i will think about about the work somebody gave a very beautiful example how can i think of god if i'm thinking of my work all the time and the answer was very beautiful god is not in your mind your mind is required for the work god is in your heart so a mother loves her child tremendously and is very busy with work to take care of the child and may not be thinking directly of the child but it's always in the background so all the cooking cleaning everything that i'm doing is for the baby and that's the focus so the lord is what i love and for the lord here is this work i'm doing so for example let me tell you what we do in the order as monks so my attitude is when i am getting up in the morning early morning sitting down and meditating and doing the naamajapa i am worshiping my lord but after that when i go to back to my room and chant and study the scriptures it's still about my lord and after that when i go and do um office work you know i was in a ramakrishna mission school so i'm going and teaching the kids looking after administration office work all of that is still the worship of the same lord and in the evening when i go whenever in the afternoon when i go for food i'm making offerings to the same lord and when i in the evening when i go for aarothi the same lord is being worshipped with the the lamp and the flower and the fan and everything and the songs and then i meditate on the same lord so the whole all the activities are all about that lord about my god now if i find i want this particular activity then i'm loving the activity more than god you see that can happen so there it becomes clear so this is karma yoga the focus is on god does not matter so for us it does not matter where we are wherever we are we are in some ashram what work we are doing whatever work we are doing we are doing for sri ramakrishna it could be mental intellectual it could be devotional it could be ritualistic it could be seva here i'm teaching vedanta and my brother monks are cooking food and serving the um you know in the lockdown the people in india food is being given as relief activities one is cooking and feeding hungry people one is studying and teaching vedanta but both are worshiping the same lord it's the difference in activity is unimportant this we can do in our lives all right let me take up a couple of verses and then we'll come back to other questions hold on to the questions verse number 31 [Music] much so those people who practice who are ever practicing this teaching of mine with faith and without criticism are also freed from the effects of actions all those people so it's a practice which is an impersonal practice it doesn't have to we don't have to subscribe to being a devotee of krishna or vaishnava or you don't have to be a hindu or a man or woman in regard without any regard to caste or gender anybody yey me matami any person who practices this teaching with shraddha with faith see a certain amount of faith is necessary because what happens is right now we don't see the results it takes some time for the results to come and when it does come the results are internal a purity of mind a growing of love for god and a kind of calmness with regard to the world ups and downs in the world we we don't bother so much so this detachment from the world an attachment to god these will come slowly but it is faith that what is being taught to us it is shri krishna's teaching this is really useful for us i want it this faith it will take me to god realization this sustains us if that faith is not there then either we will not even begin to do this practice or we will start and stop he says nithyam do it consistently it takes time so this attitude has to be cultivated day to day week to week month to month year to year in our life we go on doing this and the results slowly the unmistakable results we will very clearly see within ourselves not obvious to others but within ourselves in our thinking in our behavior patterns this will become more and more clear but until that time shraddha faith in the teachings faith in the teacher is necessary one of our great monks bashkareshwar i heard i never saw him but i heard he would start the bhagavad-gita teaching he said that when you study the bhagavad gita you keep these things in mind keep the prayer in mind prayer jana means what is the benefit to me why am i here so this should vibrate in my mind that i want god realization and why do i want god realization because ultimately i want fulfillment true lasting fulfillment i want to achieve the goal of human life so that's why i'm here for that it's i have a purpose too i have a purpose to accomplish um that is my priority i am here because i will gain something from it and then also keep in mind that this teaching is given by krishna sri krishna is in avatar an incarnation of god he's not my college professor you know i can just take notes and keep the teachings it's interesting i can think about it and forget about it no no no this is among the most valuable heritage of humanity the teachings of the great incarnations of god there's nothing more valuable that we have in civilization more than this so with this attitude you go into the study of bhagavad-gita criticism so you might think why would a spiritual practitioner be like this yes spiritual practitioners monks may sometimes be especially vulnerable to this kind of a problem uh criticizing others finding fault with witness fault finding it's a very pleasurable activity when you find fault with other people you know that person is like this and it's a mutually pleasurable thing to come and get together and criticize another person why this happens it's actually connected to spiritual life the reason is when we cultivate spiritual life when our aim is very high i want to literally we want to become saints so that's our aim now mind plays a trick what the mind the trick that the mind plays is it looks around oneself and here are all these other so-called spiritual people and so they are all they are all in the same boat and they all are trying to be spiritual that's the whole purpose now immediately the mind says look at them they're supposed to be spiritual but they are not spiritual this person is jealous that person is angry this person is greedy that person is you know so and so forth we find immediately start finding faults because a high ideal is there we find ourselves falling short of it but the trick of the mind is not to look to our own problems we immediately look into the problems of others they are all in the same board we are all in part of the same struggle we're trying to become spiritual because we're trying to become spiritual we're continuously falling short but my own falling shot is not clear to me but what is very clear to me is the falling shot of other people real or imagined sometimes it's imagined also so and that is very very harmful for spiritual life finding false swan vivekananda said weep that that you find fault with others that because the moment we dwell on the faults of others they enter into our own minds what we dwell on the mind absorbs that it's one way of not being spiritual somebody put it it's a very modern phenomenon when you talk about religion spirituality meditation the idea especially in our advanced societies what more what greater place than manhattan itself so the idea would be to poo poo such a thing oh it's new edgy it's all these silly people do these things we are people of the world you know and this is unscientific this is superstitious this is silly so i think david brooks or somebody commented very beautifully he said this is actually it's actually an excuse not to try for yourself i don't want to better myself i don't want to follow any high ideal in life the only way to do this is to criticize all high ideals in life and show that they are they're after all not so high after all you know so that saves me from the effort of trying of having to do anything at all um this is one reason why often idealistic people people in ashrams spiritual people truly spiritual people they also become critical so we are always warned when we joined the order we were as young brahmacharis were always warned against this fault of against this problem of fault finding criticizing others becoming hyper critical of things this is so bad in fact there is a they call it a psychological game game not in a good sense the game of ain't it so bad ain't it so bad means to get together and criticize something somebody um your whatever that you would all like to get together and hate and the game is ain't it so bad everybody agrees this person this thing this situation isn't it so bad and there's a pleasure associated with it that is very harmful for spiritual life and shri krishna says must be free of this fault of this fault of fault finding gunesho dosha avishkaranam that is the definition of asuya finding fault even when there are good qualities i have seen one common feature in some of the greatest monks i have made spiritual practitioners you know advanced senior monks one thing is common characteristic i would say even inability to see the faults of others i have seen they immediately see the good points in others and refuse to see the bad things about others it may to us it may seem um escapist or it may seem you know he's not realistic well we are very realistic we immediately see the worst in others we are very eager to see that uh that is actually we are dwelling in a world of maya you see it is that if it is true that all are brahman that the ultimate reality of everybody and everything is god then ultimately it is all good really it has to be so if we see it as bad we are seeing the surface we are not seeing in depth and these um i've seen so many one let me give you a couple of examples um swami ranganathan anderjee who was the 13th president of our order um so he was extremely positive about everything and everybody a senior monk told me this that and swami ranganathan used to read very extensively anything that you give him he will actu he will at least take a look so this monk told me that it's um exhausting going to the swami you know but he will we have so many publications from so many ashrams souvenirs little magazines which are published um and they all send a copy to the president of the order and he will take a look at everything he may not read everything word by word it's impossible but he will take a look sincerely and he will hand it out to the monks who come take a look at this tell me what you think of it and this swami says it's you can't lie and say that i read it because you have to read it so when you go back so he would give these things to me that senior swami told me these magazines these general ordinary publications from our many ashrams tell me what you think about it and the next day i would go back and this swami ranganathanji would ask so did you read it what did you think about it so i said that monk told me i said to him swami is a very ordinary you know commonplace article there's nothing particularly good about it and swami ranganathan nothing particularly remarkable about it swami rangana tanji would become grave he wouldn't say anything he would sit quietly and look away and the swami said until i realized what was wrong and then i changed my approach after all anything published by our ashrams there will be a few quotes no matter how poorly done or whatever it is there will be a few nice quotes from swami vivekananda or sri ramakrishna or something other something generally it will be related to something nice so i picked out those the next time the swami asked me i said look he has chosen wonderful quotes from sri ramakrishna immediately swami ragnaroj's face lit up and he said yes he should be encouraged this is a very good job you see whatever little is good in something immediately encourages that holy mother we read up this lady who has written the remedy senses of holy mother and somebody had given a clock and the holy mother couldn't figure out how this thing worked and this girl she knew how to wind up the clock and she did that and the masharada look how intelligent she is she knows how the clock works and and she went on praising her to everybody now it's a small thing but this is how they encourage and they um it leads to development and it leads to leads to moral emotional intellectual and ultimately spiritual development i have seen this in my own experience as a young monk the senior monks would always try to nurture some were affectionate and encouraged us in this way some were strict and encouraged us through scoldings but always the idea was our welfare not a sentimental love not a goody goody kind of love just our welfare so that we do better i remember another senior monk up swami nitya muktananda he was nearly 100 when this thing happened this this incident there was a dramatic performance um and of some religious theme i forgotten what it was and we went to see that that was just near our near the main ashram main monastery and it was really poor i mean i can tell you that now see i'm criticizing but it was poor it was not very well done it was a amateur group and and we were all laughing and criticizing and we came out and the old swami also came out and we asked him swami did you what did you think of it and he looked at its beaming face marvelous wasn't it wasn't it marvelous how wonderfully done what i mean how they played the role of you know i don't know if the sri ramakrishna swami vivekananda something like that now he really thinks it was good why because he sees the the nobility in the parts that were played the particular way it was acted or the how they delivered the dialogue that is secondary to him it's not that he did not see the fault that we saw but it's immaterial the the message of sri ramakrishna or vivekananda that's so glorious and so wonderfully expressed and that is what all that he wants to see and he said marvelous wasn't it and we sort of were a little ashamed and we saw nodded and we backed off immediately um anusuya this attitude of criticism just the opposite of that i i remember i was pretty critical um i hope i am not so much critical now but i was when i was a young novice and i still remember i was in sprint of the main temple at balurmat there was this old swami who has passed away now um i think yeah very funny old and very highly talented he was a wonderful painter singer and so and so forth and very humorous so i used to talk with him and he was very friendly with the younger with everybody with monks of all ages and he would walk with two sticks because he had poor sense of balance in his old age so he had two walking sticks and he would walk and an example of his humor when i he knew that i liked vedanta so when he saw me he would peer at me and he would say soyamatma spa the atma has four legs from the marduk upanishad the four aspects of the atman waker dreamer deep sleeper and the turia so two legs and two two walking sticks so you're not much of this path um so one day i went to him and asked him i was just grumbling why i've forgotten what i was grumbling about this is not good and it should this should be like that and that should be like that and why is this happening he peered at me and suddenly he said hush i surprised what i was a novice in white dress he said first complete the course 10 years until you become a monk till that time keep your mouth shut listen and learn and mature in spiritual life complete the course 10 years later then what you say right now what you see is not worth listening to and it was so um such a great lesson you know i reminded him of that the day i got our monastic vows at the end of the 10 years the day i became a monk the next day in the morning one of the rituals is to go around to all the senior monks in bow down and tell your name that's a good way of memorizing your name so if you go and tell your name to a hundred people bow down and tell your name and the juniors those who are the novices who are not yet sannyasis they come and bow down to you and ask you your name so you have to tell them your name so if you tell your name two or three hundred times in one day you remember it from the absolutely so i bought down to him and i said my name is uh sarva priyananda and then i rem then i told him maharaj several years ago you remember what you taught me and he had forgotten i told him that i was grumbling and criticizing this and that and the news scored it when he said um keep quiet until complete the course 10 years become a monk then only open your mouth and by the time i had completely forgotten what i was critical about and what i was complaining about is all gone so you see all these things we get upset about how small they are within a few days within a few months as time changes you completely forget you remember you were upset but what it was your episode is completely gone um in fact when you are upset if if we misbehave with others if we say hurtful words with two others out of a sense of righteous indignation maybe years later the tragedies we have we have totally forgotten what is it that we were indignant about what is it that we are so mad about but we do not forget that we hurt somebody that still remains with us so it's very wise not to lash out in anger or in criticism because that stays and it hurts us more than that person might have forgotten but we remember these are also freed from the effects of karma effects of karma ultimately by purification of mind concentration of mind and realization that i am brahmana they are free ultimately from the cycle of karma let's do one more verse just the opposite those who do not follow my teachings [Music] on on the contrary those who criticize this teaching of mind and do not practice it no such fools to be bereft of all knowledge to be doomed so a dire warning who find fault with this teaching could be in different ways um that sometimes people say why should i follow this i know something better i am brahmana or that might be one one thing or uh it could be that no i i'm going to do work for my own gain what is this working for the welfare of others and working as a worship of god i don't believe in god well then we'll keep we'll be trapped in the cycle of karma all that we do is either ultimately for god realization or it will take us to samsara there's there's no other alternative anything else good or bad that we do in samsara will take us towards samsara it will perpetuate this life after life the cyclic existence but if we drive if we've channelized our actions through karma yoga it will take us away from samsara it will free us from samsara and take us godward godward sarva gyana we moved on they are deluded in all kinds of knowledge paravidya in relative terms and in ultimate terms what does it mean not only they are ultimately deluded about what i am and what i am not atma anatma that i am pure consciousness i am not body and mind that clarity will never come to such people they will keep getting involved with you know mixed up with this body mind complex but also at a more practical level dharma dharma what is to be done what is not to be done that also the these people get mixed up with because such people are driven by their raga dwisha likes and dislikes by their preferences this is seems to be good for me i'm going to do this good for me in a worldly sense and that i don't like i'm going to avoid that and that's my purpose in life god if god can help me in this he's welcome if not i can dispense with god and we are trapped in samsara what is to be done what is not to be done that that discrimination is lost why does this happen see it goes back to the same crux in 30th verse we saw means lacking the spiritual consciousness only when we have this first of all had this high goal the purpose of human life is god realization if i do not believe that if i do not accept that even theoretically then i'm going to go into samsara they'll be trapped in samsara ram suggestion points out in his commentary one interesting point matam the word mata means opinion or view and shri krishna here he says [Music] my opinion or view my teaching and ram suggests he points out look at the humility of the lord he could have said siddhanta means the ultimate conclusion the final truth the teaching he says no this is my view i'm just throwing out a suggestion you can follow it if you like but it's just my view this whole karma yoga teaching he says my particular view there are all this range of views before you the material is say something the revolutionary say something else the intellectual say something else and here is this teaching i'm giving to you consider it if you think it's worthwhile you can follow it may matham ins so ram sugdesti points out instead of saying siddhanta siddhanta means final conclusion this is the teaching ultimate truth i am god the incarnation of god here i am telling you no my my opinion my my view is this um yes there are a few questions in the chat yes uh first one from rama does developing this attitude that the lord does everything remove our desires in worldly life yes definitely it does this this this idea that everything belongs to the lord not it is not mind and not for my purposes this body this mind the wealth that i have the people that are around me they are not mine they belong to the lord and they are not here for my purposes also the people are here not here to serve my purpose this body is also not here to serve my purpose this mind is also not here to serve my purpose then what is all this for this world body and mind it is for god realization the only purpose that god wants from us the only thing the whole purpose of human life is god realization so when we develop this attitude that the world belongs to god truly it does this body belongs to god my life belongs to god my thoughts my knowledge my devotion all the things in my mind they belong to the lord not me it is the lord's treasure lord's possessions which i have been allowed to use for god realization not even to achieve my own particular goals which i might have in mind see all those goals that we have in life education relationships whatever it is these are all sort of indirect a graduated path towards god realization they are not ends in themselves ram suggestion makes a very interesting point why why will you say that these are not ends in themselves money relationship success in career so why are these are all things which are considered to be worthwhile this is what people you know they pursue he says notice they are not ends in themselves because yes there is no satisfaction in this purnataab however there is no completion of feeling of fulfillment in these things the only temporary and then it goes away yet when one attains to god realization or as one moves towards god grows in devotion and love for god there is more and more tripty more and more satisfaction purnatha there is more and more fulfillment this is a sign that all these worldly goals are not the purpose of life they are not ends in themselves they may help you to mature try this try that and see okay so did not give me fulfillment move on go forward that much is their use but god realization is the end in itself because it gives us true satisfaction lasting satisfaction immediately even the ultimate god realization samadhi brahma gyana whatever it is that may be a far cry but right now little bit of feeling for god a little peaceful repetition of the repetition of the mantra little act of service done to somebody and mentally offering to it to my beloved my lord and this is for you you see the immediate pure peace it gives even a small burst of gladness and joy it gives to you immediately he says that is the sign that god realization spirituality is the goal everything is for that yes there is one more yes what if there are some unintended errors in something done can it still be offered ah very good question because any kind of worldly activity errors will spoil everything so whether it's some worldly job if you do something wrong your boss is going to scold you if it's a puja which is done a ritual done for some worldly goal i want something in this world it could be money success or whatever unless the ritual is done perfectly no result will come it has to be done properly but the interesting thing is if you offer something to the lord it may be deficient in certain ways maybe i don't know the mantras properly or maybe i i my meditation was not perfect or maybe it was still um some in some way deficient but if i offer it to the lord with love then all the deficiencies are removed so krishna i mean the gita makes it very clear that anything done for god the deficiencies are removed you will not suffer for any shortcomings there that gives result not only that anything else worldly activity um you in agriculture or business you do something halfway and abandon it then no result will come it'll be a total loss but for god whatever little you do the result is bound to come sri krishna says in the sixth chapter nothing is lost in this path what a great thing in this path as much progress as you make that is permanent progress it will help you next life also if we do not attain god realization arjuna asked suppose i do not attain enlightenment in this life so do i begin all over again next life that seems like such a bore sri krishna says no nothing is lost this is such a wonderful path whatever we do is is permanently yours and to whatever extent we progress next life you start from there so unintended errors especially unintended errors are there in any kind of worship ritualistic worship or any service that we do whatever it is no harm of course when we are offering something to god we will make the we will be careful if you offer something to someone who is very beloved to you wouldn't you be careful you would make an effort to make sure everything goes well everything is done nicely so when we offer something to the lord we make an extra effort to make sure everything is done nicely but even then if there are some unintended deficiencies shortcomings there is absolutely need not be afraid at all in many of the hindu rituals in the pujas at the end there will be a verse there will be verses for asking for forgiveness forgiveness for this deficiency and that deficiency and the lord forgives all right last one from devanique should we have a goal when we when we embark on any job and is focusing on the goal considered an attachment to the goal or outcome as i said every work has its own internal logic so you're going to do an assignment or a project for a company of course you must complete the project meet the deadline write a proper report these are all part of the puja which you are doing to the lord they must be done well so no lord said if there's some deficiency he will forgive it he might but your boss won't forgive it so whatever has to be done has to be done properly so any kind of activity you start definitely has to have a goal every activity has a goal so at the level of the activity there will be a goal but remember overall our goal is god realization because we are mumuksu's we are spiritual seekers and therefore even in worldly activities whether it's taking care of the children their education whether it's a job there are goals to be achieved there and anybody who is who is common sense who is competent will certainly have clear ideas about what he or she is doing but that's at the level of the of the activity overall the purpose is i am serving my lord in this way that is the overall objective yeah uh i think somebody has raised the hand yes um [Music] yes swamiji to develop this at the atmosphere ritualistic worship is helpful or essential ritualistic worship is it helpful for this the spiritual attitude the spiritual attitude is actually more of a decision ritualistic worship is it helpful yes but the problem is many people have a ritualistic worship which becomes a mechanical worship over years of practice you know and there is no spirit behind it and they may be stuck there so we must consciously take a step we have already taken a step don't worry we are all spiritual seekers but let's admit it to ourselves that my primary goal is god realization the more i move towards god realization more i'm moving towards my goal and it will prevent confusion i know now what i want in life i'm moving towards that so my success and failure will be measured internally for me in terms of my progress towards guard realization other things will all be there um a monk will have the ashram to look after the householder will have the family and job to look after those things will be there they are the particulars of your sadhana the instruments of your sadhana but it is a conscious decision i want god realization do i want dharmartha kama or do i want moksha i want moksha dharma takama are still there but they will serve the purpose of taking me towards moksha yeah very good i think we have run over time please take care everybody uh let me do the shanti [Music] omshri [Music] stay safe take care i'm looking at all of you in the this gallery view it's very nice you can see everybody yes very good take care i think i can see prakrat in balurmat all right krishna take care