Hari Om All,
Today's class was focused on understanding more of the Gems that make one dear to Krishna. We reviewed last week's gems:
Hate None
Be Friendly
Be Compassionate
Free from Attachment
After the review, we got started by talking about the next gem : Free from Ego. This section talks about how ego is not a noun, but a VERB. It is simply a collection of past actions and reactions! This means that we are constantly influenced by our ego, and we should work on being free from it. What does being influenced by ego mean? It means that we falsely identify the ego with our BMI (Body, Mind, and Intellect). An example of how we do this, is when we equate success with joy and failure with being miserable. Once one is free from ego, they are automatically at peace and equanimous in success and failure. We read two stories, one about an egotistical pen and an egotistical paper who fought over who is more 'important' and about an arrogant elephant who believed he is unconquerable. These delusions are a result of our ego, which lead us to view the world through a false lens. We are not able to recognize our full potential because of this. We must be free from ego!
Our next gem is : to be equal minded in pleasure and pain. As Gurudev says, "If one can give up likes and dislikes, then the world becomes double its space for us to move ahead. Then, we do not go about chasing and half the things, and running away from the other half". This basically means that we spend so much time trying to get our desires fulfilled or running away from things we don't like, that we waste our potential on such trivial things. We must maintain a neutral and balanced mindset. What is a neutral mindset? Think of when we board a plane. Pretend there are no window seats. Does it matter which seat we are given? No! We don't care and simply sit in whatever seat we are assigned. This attitude of not having a preference is one that we need to work on adapting and nurturing. It will only allow us to improve our self-happiness and be able to face less self-made sorrow.
The next gem we discussed is : being steadfast in meditation. We started off the discussion by clarifying what the purpose of meditation is. The purpose of meditation is to build laser-sharp focus and have a solid control over the mind. From this, anything is possible! However, this is a difficult task to achieve as the mind is like a river, with thousands of streams in different directions that need to be tamed. The mind is unsteady because of memories of the past, apprehension of the future, and anxieties about our present. We are constantly worried. To be content and achieve happiness, we have to control these thoughts and control our mind. This can be achieved through meditation. We discussed Andrew Carnegie and his secret to success. His practice of being able to "keep his mind focused on something for five minutes at a stretch" was the reason he was able to make so much money and become successful very fast.
Our next gem was : having firm conviction. Having firm conviction means to have firm resolve, which means to have determination. This firm conviction also needs to be present in one's faith towards God. As the saying goes, "faith is a bird that feels the light when the dawn is still dark". While life is like a Temple Run game, our faith is what gives us strength.
Our next gem was : mind/intellect centered in the Lord. We talked about external examples such as Hirakani Buruj/Shivaji/Lohagad fort and how that story showed this. We also discussed how we only think of God when we have a problem or need a solution. This is not ideal, and we should work on constantly thanking him for everything we are blessed with.
Our next gems were: By whom the world is not agitated & Whom the world does not agitate. To drive this point home, we went into detail about what our footprint is on this planet, with people at school, and those close to you. Similarly, we discussed the effects of the footprints of the same factors on us. We should try to have a positive footprint and not let the bad practices of the world influence us.
At the end, we gave time for the students to continue planning their upcoming event.
Hari Om,
Nikhita and Partha
