Existence has no favorites.
ihaiva tairjitaḥ sargo yeṣāṁ sāmye sthitaṁ manaḥ nirdoṣaṁ hi samaṁ brahma tasmād brahmaṇi te sthitāḥ
In this life, surely, those whose minds are situated in equanimity have conquered birth and death. They are flawless like the Supreme and therefore, are situated in the Supreme.
We move seamlessly from birth through living into death and again into birth.
na prahṛṣyetpriyaṁ prāpya nodvijet prāpya cāpriyam sthirabuddhir asaṁmūḍho brahmavid brahmaṇi sthitaḥ
One who does not rejoice at achieving something he likes nor gets agitated on getting something he does not like, who is of steady intelligence, who is not deluded, one who knows the Supreme, is situated in the Supreme.
Kṛṣṇa says that one who is of steady intelligence, one who does not get caught in the play of opposing emotions or patterns like pleasure and pain, happiness and misery, is established in the Supreme, is Supreme himself.
bāhyasparśeṣvasaktātmā vindatyātmani yatsukham sa brahma-yoga-yuktātmā sukhamakṣayamaśnute
One who is not attached to the outer world sense pleasures, who enjoys in the Self, in that happiness, he, having identified with his Self by engaging in the Supreme [brahma-yoga], enjoys unlimited happiness.
Kṛṣṇa advises us to turn inwards. Move away from your senses, move into your Source
Kṛṣṇa succinctly explains the neutrality and equanimity of Existence. Existence has no favorites.
Kṛṣṇa says there is no difference between a human and an animal, and that there is no difference between those we consider to be saints and those we consider to be sinners. A learned scholar, the priest and the brāhmaṇa should be seen as equal to an animal or a person who eats dogs. Even more dramatically, He says that one in full knowledge sees the dog and the dog-eater as the same.
Existence sees everyone as equal. It does not discriminate. Everyone is a part of the same Existence. Similarly, Masters see the whole world as one with their own selves. That is why only they can show compassion to anyone and everyone.
Every Atom is Divine
When we see the eternal, blissful being as the core of each and every one of us, we will realize the inherent divine nature of each of us.
Classifications of lower species and higher species, good and bad are all made by society and by our minds, not by Existence. Only human beings think they are more intelligent than the rest of Nature!
When we just realize this very life is a divine gift to us, our attitude changes from taking life for granted to one of gratitude to Existence for everything! With every breath that you take every moment,
The life energy flows into you and keeps you alive. We take for granted the life energy that converts bread into blood. The mind continuously runs behind 'more and more.'
Steady Your Intelligence, Go Beyond Opposites
Kṛṣṇa goes on to explain the characteristics of one who is Supreme. He says that one who is of steady intelligence, one who does not get caught in the play of opposing emotions or patterns like pleasure and pain, happiness and misery, is truly not deluded and is established in the truth, and in the Supreme.
This is actually a sūtra, a technique that Kṛṣṇa gives. If we put our attention neither on pleasure nor on pain, but between the two, we actually go beyond both and transcend the play of the mind.
What do we normally do? If we are in pain, we try to run away from it. If we are in pleasure, we try to cling onto it. Understand that both pleasure and pain are of the mind. They are based on our saṁskāras, root thought patterns from our past. They are not of the being.
For example, if we have a headache, don't try to resist it. Just witness it. As the tree is there, as the night is there, so also the headache is there. On the other hand, if we are very happy, don't try to cling onto it. Whether it is happiness or pain, just be a witness to it.
Normally we either suppress or express our desires. Suppression does not lead to elimination of that desire. It temporarily blocks access, but that desire will rise with renewed vigor again. Expression also does not mean completion. Again and again, the desire will rise even after repeated expression because we rarely experience anything with completion.
This Is What Is Termed As Karma
Karma is nothing but unfulfilled desire that makes us repeat the same experience again and again, simply because we do not have the intelligence to enter into that experience with complete awareness. Once we experience the situation with awareness and complete with it, we will not be the doer, the deed or the doing. We will transcend all three. We will transcend our karma.
Tune In To Eternal Bliss
When we are situated in the core of our being, when we are one with the Self, we are not shaken by the emotions that happen on the periphery. It is like a rock that is standing in the ocean. The waves of the emotions are continuously lashing against the rock, but the rock still stands unperturbed, established in completion. The happiness arises from our very being, from our Self. It is unlimited eternal bliss because it cannot be stopped by any external agent, thus says Kṛṣṇa.
For the children to understand that Existence has no favorites. All comparisons and hierarchies are man made. Understand that birth and death are passages. Neither is a beginning nor an end. To help children understand that instead of looking for fulfillment and solutions outside of ourselves, the real solution lies inside.
- 1. Who or what are the favourites of Existence?
- 2. Who created classifications like lower species and higher species, good and bad?
- 3. What does the mind continuously want?
- 4. Why do many people fear death?
- 5. What are the characteristics of one who is Supreme?
- 6. What should we do when we get a headache? What is karme?
- When we see ourselves like a rock unshaken by waves, what are we stopping from shaking us?
MATERIALS NEEDED:
- Paper 2. Colouring Pens
PROCEDURE:
Get the children to draw pairs of beings that look or act very different to one another, for example, a giraffe (tall) with a mouse (short), an elephant (heavy) with a grasshopper (light), a snake (smooth) with a hedgehog or porcupine (prickly), a bird (can fly) with a fish (can swim)