Hari Om All,
We continued to discuss the pillars in "Roadmap to ourselves". These pillars are Brahmacarya, Ahimsa and Satya.
Brahmacarya is about controlling your senses and expending too much energy on distractions. The senses are sense of sight, taste, smell, hearing and touch. We have a tendency to get attracted to these even though they may not be good to us. We played a video about the transformative diet change that Novak Djokovich undertook to become a better player.
Overindulgence is a result of getting attracted to the pleasant things. We tend to stick to these excessively. We should avoid this.
As a sage has summarized the right way of living is as follows:
Enjoy the world, but let not the world enjoy you.
Eat food, but let not the food eat you.
Drink, but let not the drink drink you.
The word Brahmacarya means - "A brahmacAri is one who is constantly engaged in contemplation of truth"
Ahimsa is "Not to cause injury to someone or something even in your mind i.e., not even to think of injuring someone or something." Focus on ahimsa at the MIND LEVEL.
Himsa can happen at multiple levels:
Himsa by Actions: This is at physical level.
Himsa towards an environment where the environment is not treated with respect.
Himsa towards animals: We discussed that not just direct violence but in some cases decoration that has some animal parts, maybe in some cases having pets etc can be considered Himsa.
Himsa towards Self: This can range from self depreciation to causing mental physical injury to Self.
Himsa by Speech: saying things that are hurtful and spreading rumours. Words can be your best friend and your worst enemy. Gurudev was once asked how he manages to run such a big institution. His answer was - "Ancestral property - three inches of land, my tongue!"
Any of the other Himsa needs to be avoided. We read a short story about how gossip is very difficult to stop once it spreads.
We had a short discussion about what to do when the King has to indulge in violence to protect his people - is that right or wrong? Our answer was that our primary responsibility is to our Dharma and we should try to do that as peacefully as possible. If there is a need to use force then we should not deter from it.
The last few minutes of the class today were spent by the students planning a class activity. They are organizing this themselves through WhatsApp and email.
Until next class, stay safe and stay healthy.
Hari Om,
Partha & Nikhita
