Bhagavad Gita Chapter 16

What Is Divinity ?

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THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM

śrī bhagavan uvāca abhayaṁ sattvasaṁśuddhir jñānayogavyavasthitiḥ dānaṁ damaśca yajñaś ca svādhyāyastapa ārjavam

Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa says: Fearlessness, purification of the being, cultivation of spiritual knowledge, charity and being centered on the being, performance of sacrifices, and accumulation of knowledge, austerity, simplicity

These are qualities that you express when you are focused not on your own self but on others.

ahiṁsā satyam akrodhas tyāgaḥ śāntir apaiśunam dayā bhūteṣv aloluptvaṁ mārdavaṁ hrīracāpalam

Non-violence, truthfulness, freedom from anger, renunciation, tranquility, aversion to fault finding, compassion for all living entities, freedom from covetousness, gentleness, modesty, studied determination

These are enriching qualities that naturally express from completion not compulsion.

tejaḥ kṣamā dhṛtiḥ śaucam adroho nātimānitā bhavanti saṁpadaṁ daivīm abhijātasya bhārata vigor,

More forgiveness, fortitude, cleanliness, freedom from envy, and from the passion of honor, these transcendental qualities, O Son of Bhārata (Arjuna), belong to divine men, endowed with divine nature

Again and again, Masters prove that they are not better beings; they are totally transformed beings.

Kṛṣṇa lists a number of qualities that take us to a higher plane of consciousness; qualities that make us divine.

Now when we listen to these things with the space of 'me', what do we usually do? We start practicing all these virtues. Be clear that if we try to practice all of these qualities, one thing is sure: we will become mad. We will not be able to do anything because we will be fighting with ourselves. We will be controlling our senses to strengthen our ego. When we try to understand these ideas with our ego, with the space of 'me', we practice them to strengthen the idea of 'me', to improve ourselves and become better beings. Again and again, Masters prove that they are not better beings; they are totally transformed beings. There is a difference between better beings and transformed beings. Kṛṣṇa tells us to be without fear and greed.

He also says to be without anger. He says to be truthful, simple, meek, gentle, non-violent, and to be without expectations and to renounce. These are qualities of the Divine; these are qualities that you express when you are focused not on your own self but on others. These are qualities that arise from the heart and not from the mind. These are qualities that arise from love and not from desire. These are enriching qualities that naturally express from completion not compulsion. When we are complete, free and liberated, we are in sheer enjoyment and we are in heaven. If we focus on enriching others, on 'You', we expand with the power of living. In fact, the more we focus to create the inner space of completion, the more we open up to enrich others. We move from the 'me' to 'You.' As we move inwards, our higher intelligence awakens. Our higher intelligence is nothing but the Divine.

That completion alone makes us God. Completion is God! Completion is Divinity!

As human beings we have the opportunity to expand into this energy, into this higher intelligence. Unfortunately, animals do not have this ability, this consciousness. Humans do. To ignore this gift, this opportunity, this consciousness, is our original sin. The entire meaning of our life is to discover this truth and become divine. That is why, if we die without realizing this truth, we are born again. We go through this cycle of life and death again and again because we do not recognize who we are. As Buddha says, that is the cause of our suffering. When we realize our own Self, our true divine potential, we realize the meaning of our life, and there is no need to be born again. We become liberated

Life is not that unfair with you. Anything happens only when you take the responsibility of inviting it and making it happen. You should know very clearly and see your own hypocrisy. What a funny belief space we create about life and then we go on blaming life! If you create this kind of space, will life respond to you? Ironing out your thinking to the logical flow of your thinking, needs to be done as the first step for awakening the divine qualities. Whatever you are afraid of, sit in a very cool and comfortable way and know very clearly that just because you are thinking, you are not going to have it. Millions of things about which you thought, you didn't have them. You also wanted a private jet, but did you get it? No! So, know very clearly, mere thinking is not going to get you the results.

Only creating the space is going to get you the results. Creating the space means, taking the responsibility and thinking. Accept that there is a possibility for all these fears to come true: your wealth may be stolen, you may have an accident, a near or dear one may die, or you may die

All these possibilities are real. Yes. What can be done? This is life. this is what is called facing reality as it is. So, sit comfortably and tell yourself clearly, 'Now I am going to allow myself to think to the extreme conclusions, the logical conclusions of any thought-trend which I am afraid of. If I am afraid of poverty, let me sit and think about the extreme possibility of poverty.

Anything that stays in your unconscious as a weight and makes you brood over it, bring all of them out and consciously think through them to the logical conclusion. With integrity, fear of thinking will disappear, and once fear of thinking disappears, they cannot cause fear to you. When you lose fear of thinking, thinking loses fear of you. When both of you lose fear of each other, you live happily, blissfully, ever after. Having eternal romance with your thinking is integrity. Integrity takes away the fear component in your thinking. You can think about anything; you will take responsibility for the right thing.

Helping students face the fears that are unconsciously sitting as a weight in them. Helping the students realize that life is fair and that one must bring integrity and take responsibility to make the reality they want happen.

1. When do the qualities of the Divine express in us?
2. What is the difference between animals and humans?
3. What is the first step that needs to be done to awaken the Divine qualities?
4. How can you live happily, blissfully, ever after?
5. What happens to the fear component when you bring in integrity?

-BH BO A OK G X A VI V , V A O D LUM G E I I T I A

MATERIALS NEEDED:

Paper Pens, markers, pencil, eraser, etc.

PROCEDURE:

Tell the students to draw the evolution from animal to human to divine and to write down a description for each

Materials needed

Paper

pen, pencil

Procedure

First thing you need to do - sit with yourself and list out all the areas of your life that you are afraid of. Whatever you are afraid of, write it down and logically think about it. Allow all of them to surface. Let your mind face the fears. Let your mind speak everything. Think intensely and logically about the fears. Give it half an hour. You may feel afraid, tears may roll and your whole body may shake. Let everything come out. What can be done? If you could do anything, you would have done it. Allow the fear to come up to your conscious layer without being suppressed

Ask the students to share moments in their lives when they felt that life was being unfair to them. -Then, share the following truth and engage into a discussion about it: "Life is not that unfair with you. Anything happens only when you take the responsibility of inviting it and making it happen. You should know very clearly and see your own hypocrisy." In the end, ask the students to write a short essay about:

1. How those moments where they felt "life is unfair" are times when they did not want to take the responsibility for making what they want happen/Exposing their own hypocrisy.
2. How life is fair

Having eternal romance with your thinking is integrity. Integrity takes away the fear component in your thinking. You can think about anything; you will take responsibility for the right thing