We Too Are The Universe
Authored by
THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM
arjuna uvāca sthitaprajñasya kā bhāṣā samādhisthasya keśava sthitadhīḥ kiṁ prabhāṣeta kimāsīta vrajeta kim
O Keśava! What is the description of one who stays in the space of completion in present moment and is merged in the restful awareness of truth and wisdom? How does one of steady wisdom speak, how does he sit, how does he walk?
You are the microcosmic hologram of the macrocosmic diagram.
śrībhagavānuvāca prajahāti yadā kāmān sarvānpārtha manogatān ātmanyevātmanā tuṣṭaḥ sthitaprajñastadocyate Śrī Bhagavān says: O Pārtha, a man who casts off completely all the desires of the mind and is satisfied in the Self by the Self, He is said to be Sthhitaprajña, one of steady wisdom in completion
We too are the brahmāṅda, Universe.
duḥkheṣv anudvigna-manāḥ sukheṣu vigataspṛhaḥ vītarāgabhayakrodhaḥ sthitadhīrmunirucyate
He whose mind is not disturbed by adversity and who, in prosperity, does not go after other pleasures, he who is free from attachment, fear or anger is called a sage of steady wisdom
We can have all that we need as all that belongs to the Universe belongs to us also.
Arjuna is now curious and wants to know more. He asks Kṛṣṇa, 'You are telling me all this, that is wonderful. You tell me that I must perform without expectations and attachment and that I must be complete in wisdom. I would like to live that way and move on the path of wisdom. Pray, tell me what kind of a person is this, the one who always stays in the steady space of completion
How does he behave, walk and talk? Let me model myself on him.'
For the fifth time Arjuna expresses authentic interest in what Kṛṣṇa is saying. Arjuna has realized that whatever he said earlier had arisen from his confusion, his patterns. Arjuna is intelligent enough to know that he does not know.
When Kṛṣṇa tells him to behave in a manner befitting the code of the warriors, this piece of advice certainly makes good sense to Arjuna. However, what Kṛṣṇa says further confuses Arjuna. Kṛṣṇa says to do what you have to do without being concerned about the outcome. This is a strange idea to Arjuna. He has rarely done anything in his life without thinking about the result of his action.
Arjuna, the greatest of marksmen, is conditioned with the pattern to first define his target and then act. Kṛṣṇa has confused him totally now. Kṛṣṇa says, 'Release your arrow; where it lands is my business.' At least, this is how Arjuna understands what Kṛṣṇa says. Arjuna has enough trust in
Kṛṣṇa not to ignore this instruction from the Divine. So he asks, 'Tell me who is it who acts without any interest in the outcome? Who is it who is not concerned about the result, whether it is good or bad, painful or joyful, and how do I identify such a person?'
Kṛṣṇa responds, 'This man is free from desires and emotions. He has neither greed nor fear. He has no patterns. He is always complete in himself. Pleasures through the senses do not interest him. He has withdrawn his senses from the external or outer world and has integrated them inwards into his inner space, directed them towards that Supreme. Truth that is beyond all pleasures, attachments, emotions and sense objects.' Kṛṣṇa thus describes the Realized Yogi, the Sthitaprajña to Arjuna so that he too may emulate him and realize himself.
GOALS Helping each child manifest the space of completion.
- ❖ Why is Arjuna confused?
- ❖ What is the pattern Arjuna has been conditioned with?
- ❖ How is the man who is free from desires and emotions?
- ❖ In which direction does the Realized Yogi direct his senses?
- ❖ Why does Kṛṣṇa describe the Realized Yogi to Arjuna?
MATERIALS NEEDED:
- 1. Pen
- 2. Markers
- 3. Paper
PROCEDURE
Based on the description given by Kṛṣṇa, ask the children to draw themselves as the Realized Yogi/Yogini.
INFERENCE
This man is free from desires and emotions. He has neither greed nor fear. He has no patterns. He is always complete in himself. Pleasures through the senses do not interest him. He has withdrawn his senses from the external or outer world and has integrated them inwards into his inner space, directed them towards that Supreme. Truth that is beyond all pleasures, attachments, emotions and sense objects."Just like Arjuna, you can also be a Realized Yogi.
PROCEDURE:
Encourage each child to sit in a circle. Each child will get turns to answer the questions but they have to answer the questions with illogical statements.
INFERENCE:
Answering illogical statements, answering with unknown can be connected to fear. Fear is created by unknown. We can relate this game to the concept of fear. Reiterate the importance of going beyond fear.
MATERIALS NEEDED
- 1. Paper
- 2. Pen or Pencil
PROCEDURE
iscuss Ask the children/teenagers to make three columns: 1) "desires" , 2) "fear" and the 3) is "the first time I felt this desire or fear". Ask them to contemplate and do their best to fill them. Then guide them into the completion process by asking them to relive and relieve those moments of intense desire and fear. At the end, ask them to write a paragraph about their experience.
CONCLUSION
The Realized Yogi is established in truth that is beyond all pleasures, attachments, emotions and sense objects.
-BH BO A OK G I A I, V V O A LU D ME G XI I V TA
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When You Take Responsibility, Everything Happens
Authored by
THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM
yaḥ sarvatrānabhisnehas tat tat prāpya śubhāśubham nābhinandati na dveṣṭi tasya prajñā pratiṣṭhitā
His wisdom is fixed who is everywhere without attachment meeting with anything good or bad and who neither rejoices nor hates
Be fully in integrity with that object of enjoyment and with all your senses integrated only on that activity.
yadā saṁharate cāyaṁ kūrmo 'ṅgānīva sarvaśaḥ indriyāṇīndriyārthebhyas tasya prajñā pratiṣṭhitā
As the tortoise withdraws its limbs from all sides when a person withdraws his senses from the sense-objects, his wisdom becomes steady in completion
The Universal energy guides you in your decision when you take responsibility.
viṣayā vinivartante nirāhārasya dehinaḥ rasavarjaṁ raso'pyasya paraṁ dṛṣṭvā nivartate
From the body, the sense objects turn away, but the desires remain; his desires also leave him on seeing the Supreme
Everything is realized when you take responsibility.
Nirmohatve niścalatatvaṁ,' says Ādī Śaṅkarācārya, taking a cue from the Master. It means: Absence of desires leads to a clear and still mind and inner space, steeped in the wisdom of completion. When there are no desires, there are no emotions such as joy, depression, sadness, anger, disappointment, jealousy that normally arise from the fulfillment or non-fulfillment of such desires. When the mind is without fear and anger, without expectations of success and failure, the unattached mind seeks that which is unattached. First the objects drop, then the desire for the objects disappears as truth dawns. This may sound complicated, but is as simple as counting '1, 2, 3.'