BHAGVAD GITA FOR STUDENTS | Swami Sarvapriyananda

yesterday we had a refreshing celebration on Krishna janmashtami and today we have gathered here to hear the words of Lord Krishna as contained in the bhagwat Gita before I talk about Swami G and our talk uh I would like to tell you all that vivean and samiti is celebrating 150th birth anniversary of Swami G over a period of 4 years that is from 2011 to 15 under this we have organized viar and youth convention in January which included several invited talks uh on Swami G's life and youth followed by community service activities like Health camps I camp old article DEC uh distribution Etc now we uh would like to start this semester with a wonderful 3-day lecture series on vedanta by our very own Swami G Swami SV priyan G Maharaj from Ram Krishna Mission belud M West Bengal Swami G is a learned and dynamic monk of the ram Krishna mat Bor he joined the ram Krishna order at Ram Krishna Mission viap pit dear which is in jarand in 1994 since then he has served the ram Krishna mission in various roles including vice principal of the deard viap pit higher secondary school principal of the shikan Mand teachers training college at belat and as a first registar of the ram Krishna Mission vivekanand University at belur mat at present he is an achara at the monastic probational Training Center at belud M you all will be surprised to know that he holds a degree in business management from The zavier Institute and of management bhubaneshwar and his interests lie in the VAR fields of spirituality philosophy management science and education I would like to invite Swami G on the DI as we want to offer him a small token of love from our [Applause] [Music] side bhagwat Gita as we all know is the conversation between the courageous Pand of Prince Arjuna and his friend guide and Mentor Krishna on a variety of philosophical issues on the battlefield of kurukshetra the bhagwat gita's call for selfless action inspired many leaders of the Indian independence movement including Mahatma Gandhi himself who referred to the Gita as his spiritual dictionary in today's caotic world it holds its a significant relevance for students for they are considered to be the future face of our nation I now invite Swami G to Enlighten us with uh his message on bhagat Gita for students thank you very much ja it's a pleasure and a privilege for me to be here in this very beautiful Institute to talk to all these Bright Young people um on a subject which is very close to my heart um I'll go straight into the subject there'll be three lectures the first lecture is more of a popular sort you know with all the bells and whistles PowerPoint and videos and so on and so forth the next two lectures will be tomorrow and day after we we go much deeper and that'll be without the Powerpoints and videos and stuff okay let me go straight into this subject I have selected a single uh Insight from the bhagavat Gita which I want to share with you something that will be very useful for you you know in the Gita there's something very interesting I have often wondered why Krishna did not tell the Gita to duryodhan if he told the Gita to duryodhan and convinced him not to do all those things you know evil things maybe you could have avoided the Mahabharat war and as a matter matter of fact Lord Krishna actually did try to uh convince duryan many of you will be aware of that episode once he went to to persuade duryan and you know what duryan said when Lord Krishna tried to tell him that you should not do all these things and it's adharma it's unrighteous it's morally wrong the way you are treating the pandas Duran reply was very interesting so Duran's reply was very interesting he said don't tell me about Dharma and adharma what is right and wrong don't tell me about that because that is not my problem I know what is right and what is wrong but my problem is different he said I know what is right but my problem is I don't want feel like doing it I know what is wrong but my problem is I can't stop myself from doing it it's a very interesting insight into human nature he says I know what is right what I should do I know it you need not tell me I have no interest in doing it I don't feel like doing it I know what is wrong what is bad what is evil I can't stop myself from doing it why not why not then he says there is some power inside me as it is forcing me along I do that whatever it makes me do I do it I am helpless there's a strong tendency in me which makes me do certain things which I know it's wrong and what I want to do I know what it's it's it's right I should follow this path but I can't I try and I fail this is my problem my problem is not right and wrong I know what is right and wrong wrong you know sometimes young people say um I know what is right and wrong so basically that was duryodhan's reply that was duryodhan's reply Arjun has the same question in bhagavat Gita very interesting in the third chapter fourth chapter Arjuna askna forced by what does a person do wrong things even if he or she does not want to do it he wants to lead his life in this way but he slips makes mistakes later on he regrets that he does not want to go on that part but he is forced somehow somehow he comes to does these wrong things and you know it automatically EOS with us we have these experiences on larger scale or smaller scale but we all have these experiences that uh we want to do certain things lead our life in certain way you're all students who has not got this experience you make a very ambitious routine you know 12 hours a day I'll put in 12 hours studying and then somehow the whole day has gone you find okay I'll do that tomorrow today I didn't do it and we as students we have all experienced this you want to lead your life in a particular way you can't you don't why not Arjun asks this and the difference between Durana and Arjuna lies in this precisely dur did not ask a question he put it as a matter of fact I can't help it this is my life this is the way I am I can't help it what Arjuna does is he puts it as a question he says what can I do about it this is what's happening to me how can I pull myself out of it so if we are in arjuna's position we would like to know how to put our lives right how can I you know I set a Target how can I achieve that this is the question what is krishna's answer so this is from bhagavat Gita but we'll take a detour a sort of bypass instead of going straight to krishna's answer now I will take you to the 1960s a very well-known psychologist Walter Michelle he had this experiment with little children on this very subject the experiment was like this it took little four-year-old children boys and girls and what he said was to the children that um here is a marshmallow a kind of maai an American sweet you want a marshmallow and kid says yes I want a marshmallow do you want two marshmallows yes I want two marshmallows said all right you can eat this marshmallow but I'm going to go out of this room for a few minutes I'll come back a little later if you wait for me if you don't eat the marshmallow I'll come back and give you one more so you can have two you can eat it now if you eat it's all right you'll get only one but if you don't eat you wait for some time not determine how much time 10 minutes 15 minutes I will come back then you can eat it and it's kept in front of the child and the the psychologist goes out of the room and unknown to the child this was video recorded this was video recorded and uh you will see some of those recordings very interesting and very funny also very cute I got it from YouTube and interesting thing is some children all of them said we will wait for two marshmallows all of them said we we want two and some of them did wait some of them did not they said we will wait but they could not wait and they saw that Suite in front and Le remember they're fouryear old so for four-year-old kid to wait for 10 minutes also is a torture when will the when will sir come come back and then I can have two and some of them succumbed to the Temptation and ate the marshmallow now what the psychologist did Walter Michelle what he did is he divided the two groups on pen and paper he did not tell the children anything 14 years later he went back to those children and he found amazing differences between the two groups he went and interviewed their parents their classmates their teachers and he found those children who were able to control themselves they said we will wait and they did wait they on the average on the average they did better in academics in c-cal activities in sports they were regarded as more confident self-controlled and the other group significantly lower uh scores in you know SAT scores and all that now it's amazing just a small thing little bit of self-restraint I want to do this and I do it and the other person says I want to do this but I can't do it just this difference we'll just see those videos and then I'll proceed this is again from YouTube water Michelle's experiment was repeated by Philip zimbardo those who study psychology you know he's a very well-known psychologist his book psychology and life is a standard text all over the world so this is a talk given by zimbardo upon this experiment he gave the talk in Google and they have put on put up the video on YouTube you can see that so it's a study done at stamp by Walter Michelle with see here okay sit right up okay now I'm going to play a game with you see the first part is nothing to do with experiment because they're little children you have to distract them otherwise they'll keep thinking what answer does sir want so they'll play a little game and say now I'll give you a price so the child is distracted and I would like you to point to which one is the correct answer which one is happy most of the time the shy one or the notshy one not shy one correct which one has a brown nose the shy puppet or the notshy puppet the not shy puppet point there thank you thank I'm I'm stop that which one is happy most of the time the shy one or the not shy one probably that one thank you that's wonderful I want to give you a prize for having done so well do you like marshmallows you do well here's a marshmallow for you you can eat it now but if you wait until I come back you can have two of them so you can eat this now but I'm going to go outside for a minute when I come back you can have two marshmallows if you wait okay I'll wait do you think you can wait okay we'll see I I'll be back in a minute notice notice the the body language is wonderful I was looking at the door looks away the whole whole time too hot she doesn't know it's being recorded actually little distraction hello you waited you waited for me okay so now you know what's going to happen you're going to get a double treat I'm going to give you two of these you lovely marshmallows you want to eat them now or save them for later them okay go ahead little sticky I've had my fell before some at it others just ate it right you got it right so I'm going to give you a prize I'm going to give you a treat and treat is a delicious marshmallow but if you wait I have to go check my car when I come back if you wait you're can to have two of them you have one now or when I come mag you can have to okay okay okay look licking on lips just 10 ation just capital T sorry hello my dear you ate the marshmallow was it delicious do you like marshmallows this kid is wonderful you don't like marshmallows look that you like chocolate yeah this boy is very funny ask him do you like marshmallow says no I then do you like chocolate yes luckily he has a chocolate you know he says okay I'll give you two chocolates if you wait for me and he explains it four times will you wait he says yes every time he gets up you know he's putting hand forward to take the chocolate will you wait for me until I come back yes I'll wait and four times he explains but still you know before the psychologist leaves the room he has already eaten it and not only that when the psychologist comes back the boy says I waited you give me another one now okay well I love treat you one is a chocolate but but but but if you wait till I come back you can get two you can eat this now I have to go check my car and when I come back if you wait I'll give you two of them okay so you can eat it now but you wait till I come back here okay you think you can wait so I will be back in 2 minutes so you can eat it eat it now if you wait you going to have two of them okay I'll be back I'm not out of the door I love the little scull and crossbone like total boy he's just enjoying it minding his own business eating away good I wait it I you ate it you ate the [Music] chocolate so so clearly he did not understand zimbardo a very important connection between if then he didn't he didn't make the cause a link that what he heard was you can eat one now if you wait you can have two so he said I waited I didn't leave the room so he ate one now and now he wanted the other two uh and so so what we we've been arguing now is kids like that who grow up to be adults who are present oriented never really learn if then relations never really learn causal sequence never learn about probabilities and therefore they're on the path to do badly in school because life is all probabilities cause and relation if then so what does it what difference does it make this little thing before the at four before the age of four no kids can wait because it it does involve U development of the various parts of the brain at four about half kids wait have don't as you get older more and more kids are able to delay gratification um now the interesting thing is Walter Michelle went back 14 years later interviewed the kids got their school records uh interviewed the parents and it turned out there were incredibly enormous differences between kids who gave into the temptation and kids who didn't what I want to do is play you a little animation we've just made that outlines those those changes uh and does it in a humorous way so repeats a little bit of that you may already be familiar with a famous marshmallow study conducted by my colleague psychologist walon Michelle which a group of four-year-olds were given one marshmallow and told they were allowed to eat it immediately they were told that if they could wait to eat the marshmallow after being left alone with it for a while then they would be given an extra marshmallow teat most eat the marshmallow as soon as they are left alone with it but some other children are able to resist temptation those children who ate the marshmallow right away are considered to be oriented toward the present or those who resist the temptation have an orientation toward the future when the children were interviewed years later as 18-year-olds they were amazing differences between the children who are able to delay gratification and those children who couldn't resist the immediate Temptation scored 250 points higher on the SAT overreacts to frustration works well under pressure indecisive self- relying and confident prone to jealousy and envy okay so that little thing basically what he is saying is that um crucial to success in life is the ability to deler gratification I want something for that I have to make the necessary sacrifices so maybe I have to wait a little bit before I get my reward it's a very small thing but this this key Insight is very important and very interestingly have you heard of the concept of uh emotional intelligence uh There's A New Concept not very new actually there's a psychologist Daniel Golan he uh gave this concept of emotional intelligence in fact more popularly the term used is EQ versus IQ IQ is normally mostly um analytical numerical abilities and most of you will have very high IQ here why I'm bringing up this subject is he said for success in life both in career in academics and more so uh when you go to a job your career and your family life and your relationships with others EQ is more important than IQ that's what he's trying to say now the very interesting point he makes is is his book emotional intelligence there I found very interestingly he refers to this experiment of wter Michelle and he makes it one of the core ideas of EQ which which experiment this thing about the ability to delay gratification to control the impulse and he makes it a core point of EQ he also says employers people in different fields they looking for people with actually High EQ and why I'm saying this is um he made a point he gave a talk in Google also and I saw the talk and he made a point which is very relevant in the in an Institute like this it's IIT not any IIT is the best I probably in the country and you have this so many brilliant young people with extremely high IQs now the point he makes is there is no no particular correlation between IQ and EQ there are people with high IQ and high EQ there are people with extremely high IQs and low EQ there are people with extremely high EQ but not very high IQ so it's uh if you plot it a scattered diagram you'll get a evenly distributed plot now what he says is uh that uh in an Institute like this he is giving a talk to Google so where you select People based on IQ you have those entrance examinations and all so generally people who come into this kind of Institute people have sort of cut off of IQ you'll find people on the higher range in IQ here so here in this institute for example among your classmates among your teachers you will find the difference in IQ the spread in IQ is not much but the spread in EQ will be quite High because you have not selected for EQ therefore in an environment in an Institute like this or in a job in a in a very good place where you're working in Research Institute or in um any company outside the difference the factor which will make a difference to you will be EQ you follow the logic and he gave gave this in a talk in Google that I'll show you a little bit the the relevant portion of that talk I'm P collaborative for on cly said you know what we found it alone is going to help you done is to because they are catalytic had a kind of random [Music] distribution now if you take this pool and you map it on Google or any other company that hires that places a premium on cognitive abilities this is the total sample well what you've done is really interesting because you've you're skimming the top okay whatever let's say this is IQ 150 whatever it's very high what you have now done is to make a very small difference for IQ there's very little variation in the population at the very top and a very large difference for emotional intelligence that means that whatever emotional intelligence contributes to success in an environment like this it matters more per unit than IQ does so there's actually a floor effect here for IQ you wouldn't expect that IQ alone is going to help you be highly effective in this work environment you got the point I mean there's no need to repeat that basically what he has done is he says in a general population distribution will be like this there are differences in IQ less and more and there are differences in emotional intelligence less and more but when you have a group like this like this institute where you have a flow because you have come through a selection process you will find what you have done is you have skimmed the top in each each suppose you have come from different schools and colleges and only the best in your batch most of you are of are the best in your batch because you you came through a selection process therefore the difference in IQ will be will not be much here it'll be about this much the difference is very little there's a floor here but you're not tested for emotional intelligence so there are people who have got high emotional intelligence you've got people who have got low emotional intelligence and therefore more than a general population in a population like this this will be more important than this in general emotional intelligence is more important but here it is even more so in a in a population like this anyway it's the same point it comes back to the same question I've just shown you the importance of the ability to control oneself the question of arjun's question was how do I control control myself why does this happen and how do I have this control whether it's Durana or it's Arjuna or it are those four-year-old kids they can ask the same question I wanted to wait for sir but I could not wait because the marshmallow was in front of me and I I wanted to wait I had made up my mind to wait I could not wait why couldn't I wait and how can I control myself these These are the questions now we go to Sri krishna's answer and see what he has to say chapter 3 two verses I'll take up basically what he's saying is this he's saying that um there are two levels in our activities one is at the level of our subconscious Minds he calls it Priti or some scarus so there is a level which is below our our level of our consciousness and here we have Tendencies we have it is you can call it samsaras or Priti prti simply means nature of an indiv individual what does this consist of it say it consists of Raa liking and disliking Raa and DHA Raa means attachments likings I want I want I dislike what do I want what do I dislike it depends upon you your habits if you are a believer in rebirth Theory so the idea is that we have accumulated a lot of Tendencies throughout our lives you don't believe in that also that's perfectly all right from childhood onwards we have developed in a particular way so we have liking for certain food certain environment certain activities books games so whatever certain people and we have dislikes certain environment certain food certain kind of people we dis we have dislikes and these differ from people person person to person and these are Dee rooted we are not often aware of this it's below the level of our conscious awareness this is one stage the second stage is when we interact with the world what happens is we have we have a reaction it comes from here and we we think something we say something and we do certain things so these this are the level of this are the conscious level the level of conscious activities already expressed this is this is not expressed sub unconscious this is conscious and expressed at this level it is too late already you know I'm dieting I want to control watch my weight I have this delicious pastry in front of me I like it I eat it up and then later I regret it I had thought I would not not eat this but I have now eaten it so what happened was here is a Raa here is a Raa and you see this attractive object X in front of you and you think I want it you order it give me one and eat it up and then you regret it because you decided not to take this actually this is what is happening all the time it happened to dur it happened to the little kids and Arjun is asking why does it happen it happens because of this from our samsaras ly this is expressed and SRI Krishna says this in third chapter in the schloka number 33 he says sad very interesting he says a person who is aani who has read the shastras I want to lead my life in this particular way I want to meditate realize God and I want to um have daily meditation exercise have a Fit Body I want to do my studies in this particular way everything is there Gan he is aware of what he wants to do he or she but says is this one Sadam means according to prti even this person who is very alert he works according to prti such an interesting comment by SRI Krishna people act according to their Natures what can self-control do and the immediate doubt which is raised in all the commentaries is if selfcontrol is of no use then uh what is the point of all this meditation and yoga and all spiritual practices and they raise this doubt then what is the point of all this what he's saying is we have this Priti and then it is expressed at this level it is unconscious you're not aware of it you cannot do anything at this level it's already expressed you may stop it once very very difficult to stop you must stop it once next time you'll fail you fail twice maybe succeed once and you get frustrated it goes on like this what is the way out SRI Krishna says in the 34th verse he gives the secret indas you know 3.34 the secret is here he says between these two levels are we clear about these two levels one is the um subconscious level samcara this one prti and the next one is action Karma he calls this the the uncontrollable level it's a conscious level it's conscious but difficult to control and this is unconscious but um because it's unconscious you can't control it you're not aware of it so this is he say this is a third level and this is the first level and says the secret is s Krishna gives this is the important point the whole lecture this is the most important point he says the secret is between these two levels there is another level there is another level and he says this raadha it comes in a conscious level and this is the second level this is control level what he says is from here the action goes here and from here to third level from the first level unconscious level there is a small conscious Gap when you become aware of likes and dislikes coming up boiling up from within before it takes on the form of a strong desire thoughts or you already say something a flash of anger comes and you Hur an insult at somebody later on you're going to regret it for being behaving like that and need not have said that you feel that but you already said it at that level it's very difficult to control you know he says I became so angry I was burning up from the top of my head to my toes so that's already at this level third level but he says Krishna says at this level there's a there's a gap there's a conscious Gap a window of opportunity at that level you can control it at that level you can control it you can consciously control it what he's saying is this ra likes and dislikes according to our sense organs IND means ear what it means is each indria has its vishaya indria means sense organ so eyes have chaku has vishaya as form these are forms ears shabda tongue taste rasa like this the five indas have their V each of them have fixed likes and dislikes which are in your subconscious mind there are certain forms I like certain forms I do not like to see uh certain sounds which I like certain things which I do not like to hear and so on certain things I like to taste certain things I do not like to taste all these are about conditioning and they are expressed in action in karma between these two levels he says there's a third there's a second level at which he says Krishna says what you can do is you can exercise conscious control like a traffic policeman you know have a CH here there's a traffic policeman there what he does he controls traffic now you have a particular aim in life so maybe it might be studies it might be meditation God realization whatever you know very well just like dur said I know what is right and what is wrong how do you know what is right and wrong according to your aim of Life there certain things which are right and certain things which are wrong if a little child wants two marshmallows the right thing is not to eat the marshmallow until sir comes back the wrong thing to do is to eat it up because you will not get the second marshmallow in the same way that's a very simplistic thing but in the same way it works for all of us what is right and wrong in life we know now this policeman this conscious level what you have to do is whatever is coming from your subconscious it will be the form of think this say this do this you filter it at this level certain things which are in accordance with your aim of Life what you want to do or what you want to be those you allow okay pass and you're expressing as action certain things which are not in accordance with what you want in life those you disallow you divert them and you replace them with something good because you can't have a vacuum you must think something say something and do something so there's a decision which you have to take at this level there's a decision which you have to take it's not all that complicated my diagrams look very complicated at this level you have to take a decision and the thing about the decision is very interesting thing I'll tell you this is a power which we all have actually 24 hours a day and kopish says sh and praya what is good for me and what is Pleasant for me sha and praya what is good and what is Pleasant Swami used to talk about it often Shrea and prayer prayer Pleasant what I like to do now and sha what I know is good for me now if that if they are same what what I like to do and is good for me it's very easy for life is becomes very easy but often Unfortunately they are not safe what I would like to do and what I actually what is good for me I know these two are often different for example how many of you if you could I'm not asking you whether you do it or not but if you could you would like to wake up at 4:00 and meditate and exercise and study or whatever each day in the morning would like to wake up at 4:00 in the morning how many of you would like to do it if you could do it how many of you like to do it so many more than 90% of the audience if I could do it I would do it how many of you like sleeping comfortably at 4:00 in the morning especially on the cold winter morning how many of you like it the same 90% of the audience who say that I want to get up early in the morning it would be very nice if I could do it and I could study and I could exercise I could uh do medit St whatever or take up early morning walk and I the same person also says I like sleeping in the morning now what happens is here is what I want to do here is what I like doing and there's a pull they're pulling in opposite directions this is the problem and what SRI Krishna says is here you have to take a decision and decision is suppose A and B if I ask you to choose please come make a choice in any way give any any sign or symbol what anyone correct so this is what we normally do what's your name the the okay thank you normally that's what we do we decide something okay I'll choose this one or we do this or something but decision actually means you choose this and you cut this out what it means is this one only this is no longer an option why because whenever we make a choice I choose this one so what is good for me I choose the moment I choose what is good for me and I sacrifice which is Pleasant for me it's painful it's painful to get up at 4:00 in the morning and if it's painful what happens is if this is a still a viable option the bed is there warm and cozy you feel like crawling back into bed tomorrow onwards I will follow the routine not today that's what happens and that's because this not been cut out it is still available very much available that little that little sweet marshmallow did you notice one boy was looking like this or one girl was looking all the time why I will not look at it it's not available to me it's not in front of me this is a decision that's the correct way to do it I will not look at it I will not take it whatever happens I will not take it so decision in fact this one comes from Cesar you know cesarian operation Cesar to cut it means to cut decision means not to select it means to cut to cut what you are not going to do so you remove it from your life this will not be there anymore this will not be there anymore and this is the only one available there's no question of going to this this one anymore and that's how you take a decision so SRI Krishna says you take a decision and you select each time you put the Sha instead of the prayer now what happens when you do this it's not easy it takes time and you at first you won't be able to do it because it's a very small gap between unconscious desires and expressed usually it happens after that you regret it but if you have this knowledge in the background of your mind you keep thinking about it very soon you will understand why it is happening in your life and with this decision making power if it increases over the time you begin to control it and some sometimes you'll be surprised to see at that moment you're able to control it so the traffic policeman is working most of you have done it because you are in such an Institute you have made sacrifices in your study life whereas your batment did not you did it so you can do it it's it's possible it's there and one more thing I'll add to this it's in the yoga sutras of patan says uh samsar and V he says this is a conscious level R means thought and samcara means your conditions Impressions subconscious mind this is subconscious mind and panel yoga Sutra There Is A Commentary by Vasa there he makes this point our thoughts are coming up constantly where are they coming from our subconscious conditionings where do these conditionings come from from our thoughts what you think that goes back as samcara what is in samsara that bubbles up as thoughts now by this method three stages what you are doing is samcara you cannot change directly you're not aware of it where is it what is it we don't we are not aware but these ones we are aware of if you consciously keep on replacing these thoughts with positive thoughts with Noble Thoughts with thoughts which are beneficial for you positive Noble constructive slowly these will go back and become Samaras over time you will find good thoughts bubbling up I read the story of a Buddhist Meditation exercise the Buddhist monk you know sitting in meditation and his teacher told him here is a bowl and here is a heap of black Stones here's a heap of white stones and every time you sit for meditation 1 hour or 2 hours and every time a negative thought anger jealousy uh passion something comes up in your mind you take a black stone and put it in that bowl every time a good thought Mitri garuna peace happiness it comes in your mind take a white stone and put it in the bowl in the first few months every day would sit for meditation it will be mostly after 1 hour of meditation the only black thought the black Stones would be there in the bowl one or two white stones over the months he saw that balance is changing because he's practicing this he's replacing at the level of conscious thought he's replacing so there's a traffic policeman working here and he's replacing he's cutting off the negative thought and replacing with good thoughts what happens is over a few months he found more and more white stones he's putting in one hour meditation he's putting more white stones and lesser black stones and over after a period one or two years he found mostly white stones and no black stones or all very few black Stones now this is what happens the subconscious gets purif ified then the job becomes easier then you don't have to struggle so much the thoughts which come are automatically mostly sha good for your life I remember one thing which I put here I made a table I've told the story number of times the first time I put it in the table uh I'll tell you the story first then you'll make make sense I was in gangotri few years back after taking Sasa I thought Ram Krishna mission we have got schools and colleges and uh ashrams and hospitals so day and night we working we do a lot of work most of the people think you know the monks you have it easy M we we do a lot of work plenty of work I remember when I first became a monk a brahmachari um first thing they told me after 3 days after I had joined in thear I was a newcomer and then the senior monk told me first I'll tell you in Bengal free food for a long time 3 days now time to do some work here is the hostel with 40 boys you go and look after them I thought if I had if I in samsar I had gotten married I would have got one or two children now 40 children I to look after 40 children and it started like that so I thought let me be after taking SAS let me wander like a traditional monk you know of the old days I'll take Bika I'll beg for food sleep under a tree whatever whatever comes Kya so I went up to gangotri 10,000 ft higher you go more spiritual you are that's what they think stays higher m one person is to stay Beyond tapoan gangotri Guk tapan that's 14,000 15,000 ,000 ft I asked him what was it like he said personally I'll tell you it was hell there's no chance of spiritual practice because it just to survive it is difficult for months at at an end anyhow I was in gangotri I used to live in a little kouta wooden cabin I don't know how many would like to stay there it was very beautiful scenery but no furniture if to sleep on the floor only thing you have got Rai this blankets three or four on the ground you put it and three or four on top of yourself no bedding nothing no electricity no table chair nothing and there's only one small window if you open it it's like having six air conditioners blowing at you at once so you have to close that and if you close that it is so dark inside and I used to open my eyes and do this I couldn't make out whether my eyes were open or closed I couldn't see anything and only sometimes you can see the static electricity Sparks from the clothes you know in in in Winter static electricity is there from Woolen clothes there a monk I met a sadu who was living there for many years one day was sitting next to me near the ganga those who have gone there must have seen it's very narrow but very fast torrential flows very fast and that was uh Autumn around this time July August and he told me he told telling me the difference between the mind of a of a Vishay worldly person and a yogi what is the difference if you do this practice for a long period of time what will be the difference he says he told me I'll tell you in Hindi and then translate into English M you look at this ganga now in rainy season what is there lot of water fast flowing water very turbulent and dirty because lot of landslides are there and soil gets deposited brownish so he says this water is there's a lot of water and it flows very fast it's very dangerous if you put your foot in it you'll be swept away it simply be killed there's no way of coming out of it anymore and you cannot drink this water you cannot give it to anybody to drink you can't drink it yourself also and then he told me in Winter the same ganga is because there's it's mostly Frozen there snow up to here ice and there's very little water and the water is it flows slowly and it's Crystal Clear he said if there's a bridge there two bridges in fact over that in gang tree he said if you throw up you can see what denomination of the coin it is so clear like glass he told me so much water and a v a worldly person's mind full of many thoughts good and bad many many thoughts similar just like so much water is Flowing second he says it's so fast just ganga is dangerous in this Autumn rainy season a v person's mind is dangerous anytime anything it can happen so many times we regret saying certain things doing certain things why because our mind said it and it seemed like the right thing to do at that time or we could not resist it and we did it and it can be very dangerous in IIT itself you once in a while we see in the papers this boy or girl committed suicide and I read a story not a story this very famous American novelist William Tyron he's written a book um Journey Into Darkness he was a schizophrenic and sometimes suicidal because he's a novelist he could write very well Memoir of Darkness Memoir of Darkness uh Memoir of Madness sorry Memoir of Madness Williams Tyron Memoir of Madness at one time he was going to commit suicide and he's written vividly he said this absolutely it felt like I have to commit suicide now there's no other way and somehow he was saved they was put under medication and all that later on he said I didn't understand why I was going to commit suicide at that time there's no reason at all this is the mind so dangerous it can sweep you into destruction addiction spoil relationships spoil your career everything that same mind and third point he said just like the ganga is polluted now lot of mud is there our thoughts are also polluted so many kinds of thoughts this water he said and he said our people's minds are like that they don't get peace and those around them also don't get peace from them opposite he said g when you come in Winter I'll show you ganga then he says very little water very few thoughts are there in the mind of a yogi not that his mindless very few thoughts we have got lot of unconnected thoughts flowing through to us continuously distorted habitual thoughts those are not there in the mind of a yogi it is safe just like the ganga he says you can cross over it's so little water is there it's absolutely safe you can walk across he says and the Yogi's mind is very safe it's not harmful to him or to anybody else and third and he says the mind of a yogi is like that it's always at peace Serene and others who come into contact with that person also get that peace I have seen some of the senior monks of the ramakrishna order I have met and outside also other sadus good sadus just to be with them you feel uplifted you need not go and discuss something spiritual about with them you simply be with them exchange a few words you feel uplifted or sit simply sit near them there something in an atmosphere about them which is so much of Serenity and calmness is there uh um it transforms your mind at least for some time but that is due to that person not our own there was a very great Swami and one one Swami who used to stay with that Swami who a disciple of masara and uh this person who told me he said I used to stay with that Swami and my mind was at such a high plane all the time and I felt I had achieved something and that Swami he was staying in the room there's a medicine the spirit is there for you know swabbing and all disinfection so there's a stick with cotton wrapped around it which is kept in the spirit and that Swami took out that stick and he said look this has a smell of that disinfect in the spirit after some time if you keep it aside it will go away that's smell it does not belong to the stick similarly for you you are with me don't think that you have achieved something spiritually day I die after a few months you will find whatever you we earlier you are that only you have to earn it yourself anyhow the point is such people can generate can radiate spirituality you get peace others also get peace this is the point um I can go on there's more to it but we have almost run out of time I'll stop here I'll sum up I have said only one thing today and they say that you have heard of the con concept of take home salary after all the deductions and all that what you take home the amount you take home home that's called your take- home salary so what is your take home from today's talk the take home from today's talk is it's a central question of anybody's life I have certain goals in life I have to go towards it how do I get the discipline the control over my life to go towards it you understand what sweeps you away from that the samsaras from inside which are expressed in thought speech and action these sweep me away at the level of samcar I cannot control I'm not aware at the level of action difficult to control already expressed answer he says don't come under the sway of your raadha they are being expressed in thought word and action before that happens there's a window of opportunity be the traffic policeman there even if you cannot do it consciously right now at at least reflect on what happened as you reflect that that conscious window comes in in control in fact meditation is helpful in that there was a neuroscientist from nimans Bangalore who showed that actually he mapped the um reactions of those who meditated for a long time for several years and he found the reactions are less from the autonomic nervous system more from the from the conscious centers that means they decide what they going to think they decide what they're going to say they decide what they going to do most of our cases we are on autopilot default setting whatever is there it gets expressed so that is the point I want to share with you whether it's Durana Arjuna or those little children or us students or Swami s priyan or anybody whatever our aim in life this is a very interesting and very important thing to understand this Gap level two between level one and level three there is a level two which we must capitalize on we must gain control over that level this is the talk for today uh we have almost run out of time nearly 7 if youve got questions I'll deal with it tomorrow and day after I will go much deeper no videos no PowerPoint cuz I normally I don't uh like this because uh it interferes you know the audience is constantly looking there sometimes at me so I'll shut that down I'll speak to you directly tomorrow's topic is purposeful life with vanta what is the aim or purpose of human life what does vanta say who am I we deal with that at the deepest level a very profound uh question and I will show you um actual steps you will travel with me to the level of body mind and Beyond to the Atman how we can have a deep immediate experience sakshat what they say so that we will do tomorrow and beyond that on Monday message of the opad I selected Kad that is you know as students say Engineers hardcore so that is Hardcore vanta so that is even more serious um I'll deal with kenish how to spiritualize every moment of life I say about that topic especially it's a dangerous topic because once you go through that just follow me as as if you just follow the scripture what I will tell it's irreversible you can't change it anymore it's already done whether you like it or not you have stepped irreversibly into another way of thinking you cannot come back anymore if that sounds ominous it's not ominous uh it's uh actually very interesting and uh uh very lifechanging actually thank you very much uh thank you and I'll take I'll take a few questions I'll take a few questions anybody yeah what just tell your tell your name andu shanu yes we control ourselves yes and then in a small thing we lose and we feel like we are going back to zero we sa really something or what is the way out Yeah question suan asked is very important we practice something then we stop whatever it is so is it lost we feel frustrated after some time or is something saved if you look at this Theory vti and samcara what you practice consciously you think certain things say certain things and do certain things that is added it's never lost Arjun in the sixth chapter of the bhagavat Gita he asks this question Krishna you're telling me to practice meditation spiritual practices and all but suppose I don't get Gana in this life if I don't get spiritual realization in this life then have I lost both this worldly life and also spiritual life I did not get that realization atana n MOA whatever and I did not enjoy life in this world I I've given up certain things in this world have I lost both with so from both sides I'm lost and Krishna gives a clear answer person who walks on the path of spirituality spiritual welfare he never goes to destruction so this is always added up if you practice something let it go fine it is there next time you practice whatever you have practiced earlier comes to your Aid so you get up at 5:00 and hold on to it for at least 21 days what it does is it becomes a habit so habit has its own inertia then it becomes easier to wake up after that uh at at 5:00 or 5:30 in the morning if you do for 2 3 days and abandon it it becomes equally remains equally difficult it's like if you want to jump across a ditch you have to take one big jump you can't take few small jumps cuz You' fall in the ditch if you try to do that so you want to make make a new habit you have to push for 21 days 21 days is just a figure one month so both ways what you do it is saved but it's better to do it for hold on to it and do it for some time yeah questions anybody yeah what's your name my name is you were telling me you were telling us that uh the things which are right or wrong good or bad depends on what the person wants to achieve yeah should there not be a saying about morality in all this yeah because a person might want to achieve something bad and his good might be bad for others yeah so so they say Morality In fact in yoga these are the five things they say um aimsa SATA satam and brahmacharya AA AAR these are the five main vows which we as monks also take and those who want to be yogis they should take practice in some to some degree they must practice all of this nonviolence um not hurting others in thought speech and action you you know the vow in medicine those who become doctors first Do no harm there is a vow the oath they take is first Do no harm especially important for doctors whatever treatment they do first they must see at least we don't make things worse similar aim is this whatever you can do for others or you cannot do that later on but at least don't harm others and so this is aimsa truth in thought word and deed um and then brahmacharya self-control self-control in all aspects of sense enjoyments it's different uh for a householder and for a sasi of course the levels are different but everybody is expected to have certain amount of self self control a non stealing never taking what is was not due to you that goes at all levels uh from not taking money stealing money from others or breaking copyright software piracy or whatever it go it's across the board levels of non-stealing and aara not taking gifts very interesting if you want to practice yoga you should be independent don't go out for handouts don't take things because it's just available for free it seems it has an effect on the mind I'm reminded of a story a very senior mon the one monk about whom I told you about that uh stick in the disinfectant Swami prand is a disciple he was a disciple of holy mother Mash somebody when he was an old monk somebody bought him a walking stick wanted to present and he said no thank you I don't need it he kept on insisting mahaj you please take it I don't want anything from you you please take it I'll be just happy if you just accept it then you do whatever you want said no no I don't want it I don't want anything in return just take it I'll be very unhappy with if you don't accept the gift then that Swami said you don't want anything from me no I don't want really I don't want anything in return from you he's holding the stick and says in Bengali let me let me break it in front of you and got a shock why did you react like that you expect something subconsciously at least because I'm giving a gift to you you don't expect me to tear it up in or break it in front of me see so there is an something that a person always wants when he or she gives something to you so not a yogi is not supposed to take Gifts of course where you are in society you have to be you have to be balanced towards it I you just can't say that uh you know you have a birthday party and you I will not take any gift from anybody you do you give something back immediately you give something back I remember Yeah question why I just finish why I said this the question was about morality where is yeah these are called s Universal vows these are not matters of choice to some extent to be a decent person you have to follow all of these at some level at some level you have to follow all of these to be a yogi you must follow them at a very high level but to have a decent life you must follow all of these why why these are not matters of choice you call them moral laws but somebody asked me students often ask you know moral laws you are calling them laws but they are not laws like gravity sat I can tell a untruth I can tell a lie how is it a law how is it a law I can break the law tell the truth it's a law but I can tell an untruth it's not like the law of gravity which you can't break the answer is very beautiful he says you can't break these laws you can only break yourself against these laws the more you V them the more you destroying yourself the effect is on the psyche it's not physical effect it's on on your character on your psyche on your reputation with your colleagues and your family and others so yes morality is a fact it's not a choice okay question just hold on before U taking up the next question so we have a bookstall outside and there are some free books for distribution available so anyone of you who is reading out can just take it from the book Thank you the Maraj has come from the asham now free books is different from AAR you can you can happily accept the free good books because that is spiritual knowledge that is spiritual knowledge yeah there's one thing you can give freely and accept freely that is spiritual knowledge definitely please do aail of the opportunity because Maharaj has come with a lot of difficulty from the ash in khur City Yeah question yeah my question as you have to mind to have a in my mind and meditation it's a huge subject tomorrow we'll go through one method of meditation it's a very sophisticated method of meditation in Gana yoga meditation the classic book for meditation is Yoga Sutra patanjali yoga Sutra and the best explanation and translation is Raj yoga by Swami vianda this is one of the first books which attracted me when I came into spiritual life before I joined as a monk and as a student I used to read this book a lot I'm sure it's available outside banel yoga sutras it's a classic text of meditation technique and in fact the vast range of meditation techniques you see in the world today especially in the Hindu Traditions not so much in the Buddhist Traditions but and there are similarities they are all drawn from the patanjali yoga sutras in some form or the other and there to answer your question what is meditation in the second Sutra meditation is defined what is Yoga yog Yoga is control of the sensation of the modification of the mind vti this one the thoughts which thoughts feelings emotions ideas which keep on bubbling up all the time sensation of that is meditation and there are techniques for that so many techniques are there you'll ask what is the use of sensation of the VES what's the purpose what happens when all thoughts seize thoughts do seize when you fall asleep and happens in classes sometimes but but you consciously do that you are conscious and aware but the thoughts have seized is it possible it's very much possible and it's quite easy also for sometime it's quite easy at least what happens the idea is in the third Sutra is given second Sutra yog yoga is sensation of the thoughts third Sutra the the the sakshi remains in its true nature at that time at what time when all the thoughts have subsided Swami vand says in the commentary you will read like a lake which is absolutely without any waves and the water is very clear you can see the bottom of the lake when it's in waves and it breaks out into waves or the water is Muddy you can't see the bottom of the lake similarly in a mind Lake of the mind when it's absolutely calm and clear you can see who you are see means in the sense you can experience it immediate kind of immediate experience that is the purpose of meditation and for this many techniques are there if there are thoughts what happens the fourth Sutra says when there are thoughts in the mind you become identified with the thoughts I am um so and so I am happy I am sad I understand what this guy is saying I don't understand what this guy is saying I like this I don't like this I want this I don't want this these are all thoughts and you become identified with that I am this but the pure I without all this just I am that can be experienced when the mind is without thoughts that is the purpose and that is the what is called at d means the saki the witness witness stays in its own nature this is the this is the essential idea of meditation all kinds of meditation nowadays meditation is used for relaxation you can use it yeah um hypertension control Stress Management I do uh seminars on Stress Management you can I use meditation also within 20 25 minutes you'll have so much level of relaxation which you have never experienced in your life wonderful but that is not the uh original purpose of meditation in these books especially panel yoga Sutra nowh it is said for Stress Management do meditation Mahari Mahesh Yogi who popularized Transcendental Meditation in the west once he was asked this is not the purpose of meditation why are you teaching this to remain uh calm to control hypertension to manage stress to remain young and good-look and healthy all these are effects does this really happen he says yes it happens but these are not the purpose of meditation where is it said these are the purpose of meditation why are you teaching this so he gave a very interesting answer he said about Americans you gone to you to the West he said I give them what they want so that they will want what I want to give them I give them what they want they want calmness they want rest they want relaxation they want Stress Management they want to live long and young okay it is possible I will give you all that as they practice that and get the benefits they become more and more curious about the real purpose of this yoga which I want to give them then they want what I want to give them so I like that response but then you should progress to that level should not get satisfied with just the um The Superficial advantages which you get take one more question yeah that brah does only mean that we have not we do not have to marry anyone no no no as I said brahmacharya means self-control control of s sensuous of your senses of sense Pleasures so this is a whole range it depends upon what you are if you are right now a student so there is a moral code of conduct for you if you are a married person so you have relations with your husband wife and it's limited to that that is what in fact what what is normally considered to be decent or moral in society that is actually based on Braha any religion it's not just yoga Hinduism in Buddhism in Islam and in Christianity everywhere you have a code of conduct basically what that code of conduct always does that morality always does you know it puts a limit it always is in the form of a limit Thou shalt not do this you shall not exceed this limit it's always a control that is brahmacharya it applies to uh all kinds of U sensual enjoyment it may be eating a rasula to any kind of sensual enjoyment code of conduct for a monk again is more strict like that yeah any more no more questions yes please is it like subconscious mind yes and your are same or different because there is lot of there not one CH has two meanings it means the mind it also means actually the subconscious mind the storehouse subconscious mind is a recent term maybe in the 19 20th century has come up especially forian psychology so chitt corresponds to the subconscious mind chitt also corresponds to the mind in general I mean it's used in both senses sense mind sensual mind yes and then they different of in English for example in um two ways I'll give you in Vantas if you see mind has got four aspects aamar budhi and Manas Manus is sensual mind buddhi is the intellect the V ahankar is the ego function you feel right now I I I that is AAR CH is the store House of Impressions vasas so that's that's the fourfold division of Mind in in yog when you come yog there it is not the subconcious mind there it is the conscious mind vti means the conscious thoughts sensation of the conscious thoughts so depending on the context chitt can have different meanings in Sanskrit this is a difficulty you have to be careful what sense the word is being used the same word has got different meanings Atma you say Atma normally means some kind of spiritual self Atma also means body in in Sanskrit Atma just means I if you feel I am the body then Atma means body I remember I'll conclude with this story I remember I was in the Himalayas I was begging for you know the traditional sadus they go for Bika they can go to a village and beg for food you don't do that I have the right because I we this you are supposed to give me Bika if I ask for food but you should not beg see it depends on what you are in society for me it is the way of life I mean I can I can ask for it it will be Dharma but for a person who can earn and who is in society if he or she goes and begs it is against Dharma so it depends on the context now if I go start earning money and then I have a bank balance and start buying my food like that then it against Dharma my my Dharma for example uh anyway the point is I'm I stay in an asham so food is cooked in asham and we eat in the asham so this traditional way of going to a house and begging is really I'm not very used to it so the first time I went to somebody's house not the first time one of at the big beginning this is in place called Hari about 20 km below Gango 3 there's a mountain I climbed up that and there's a village now they stay in summer they stay in that Village and in Winter they go a little down they are they do they do that Terrace farming kind of thing so I went to this village Village means three or four houses this farmer was sitting there and I went there and I was too tongue tied to we have this way of Shad have a way of asking for Bika they say om Nam n like that they say so I just stood there and then farmer understood he said he took me inside made me sit then he served me food now as you can see I'm a very great eater so he saw the quantity I was eating I set aside the rest of the food and he said at then means Atma is body actually first body and then God so in the village tongue there Atma means body so in Sanskrit the word can have different meanings depending on the context so he said Atma first body and then God all right we'll close here

Channel: Vivekananda Samiti, IIT Kanpur

Views: 1,753,082

Keywords: Swami, Sarvapriyananda, Bhagvad, Gita, Vivekananda, Samiti, IIT, Kanpur

Id: _EqwlOeTj7Y

Length: 79min 11sec (4751 seconds)

Published: Sun Aug 26 2012