Hari Om Parents,
After the discussion of Chapter 13 which dealt with the discrimination of the knower and the known, Chapter 15 which dealt with the knowledge of the Supreme being, we took up the discussion of world of religions from Upanishads point of view. Class gave us examples of different religions and their understanding of rituals, faith, beliefs. From the discussion we classified all religions into 2 categories "God centered" vs " Self- Centered" and compared the advantages and disadvantages in both. We finally put Advita Vedanta as the blend of both. With ultimate self-enquiry and at the peak of devotion one lands at the same truth which has been described in Upanishads- "That Thou Art". This gives a wider and deeper philosophical frame work for all the religions to fit in. We went into the further analysis of " That Thou Art"
Class watched a small parable by Gurudev on " That Thou Art". Below is the link for the video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAeyi2KFbdU&t=29s
The second half of the class we took up the discussion on the topics based on the "Power Of now" by Eckhart Tolle
1. You are not your mind
2. The present moment is all what we have
3. Acceptance of what is.
Below is the video used for discussion
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgGtNgLSCqU
From the analysis, class discussed on: how to separate the thoughts and the awareness factor within, turn one's attention to the present, how one is drained by memories of the past and anxieties of the future, how to be free of stress and live in the present, tips to achieve this, understanding of the resistance factor within us and how to overcome the resistance, surrender is not a weakness, transform oneself and the world around transforms.
Class gave examples on the college apps, procrastination, how the past was holding them to move forward on changes.
We ended the class with a breathing exercise which was more to bring an awareness even at the breath level. The next week we will continue with our lessons of Gita – Chapter 16.
Thankyou,
Aruna and Sirisha
