Vedanta US Study Group Topics

https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/kyog/kyog07.htm "...But it is a most difficult thing to give up the clinging to this universe; few ever attain to that...." Here are my notes. Please add to it. People say "I do", not knowing that it is God who is the doer. Non attachment is giving up the fruits of work. Swamiji is always speaking from a higher point of view. Karma Yoga gives up the idea of duty and doership. Swami D says we do good only because it is good for us. We are only indebted to five things: Sages Ancestors Gods Other kind and forgiving human beings All non-living things (clouds, Sun, etc) Until we realize non-attachment, indebtedness keeps us grounded. According to Swami Vivekananda, any action that makes us move forward is duty. That Karma which sets us free is the definition of duty. I am just an instrument and I don't even exist. Ramana Maharshi example (unfortunately my notes are incomplete) in mountain caves. The greatest gif...

Attendees: Nandini didi, Tara, Chandra, Bhama, Priti https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/kyog/kyog08.htm "The world's wheel within wheel....." Here are my notes. Please add to it: Why do we create? Why do we feel this urge to create? Our nature is looking for perfect balance and what we see is the unfulfilled part of it. So we create to fulfill. From our samskara , we look at things the way our mind is conduced to think and then we say "but if only this could be added to it, then it would be so perfectly balanced!" Our mind is in a state of imbalance and our nature propels us to fulfill a desire and get back into our own individual equilibrium. Desire comes from non-fulfillment (past samskara); and once fulfilled, it takes us back to equilibrium. Find your peace (right now) and hold it tight (never let go), and then everything else will fall into place. Two options are: Give up everything (desire) and stand back (path of a yogi) Plunge into th...

Attendees: Priti, Tara and Nandini-ji Here are my notes. Please add to this. Morality: Concept of morality evolved from the cave dwelling stages. Survival was the main thing. Propagation of species was necessary so the survival was what defined morals. Morality evolved with time and its necessities.    Swamiji says unselfishness is moral. This is the litmus test when we are trying to determine our direction. That is, freedom is when I am not bound. When I do something selfish there is bondage, but when I do unselfishly, there is no bondage. The system of give and take (barter) creates a slave in us. In the mad scramble to go to the top they become very lonely and sad. That's why we find many philanthropists there.    Our nature is Ananda and we are always seeking it. Whatever we do our motive should be unselfish - not for me or mine, but for thine.  Sometimes motive is name and fame. This is as much of a bondage as something more common such as desire fo...

Unselfishness- VUSG – Dec 10, 2018 Class material covered in  Vedanta US Study Group  on  Dec 10, 2018 Pg101 So Karma-Yoga says, first destroy the tendency to project this tentacle of selfishness , and when you have the power of checking it, hold it in and do not allow the mind to get into the ways of selfishness. Then you may go out into the world and work as much as you can. Mix everywhere, go where you please; you will never be contaminated with evil. There is the lotus leaf in the water; the water cannot touch and adhere to it; so will you be in the world. This is called Vairâgya ", dispassion or non-attachment. I believe I have told you that without nonattachment there cannot be any kind of Yoga . Non-attachment is the basis of all the Yogas. The man who gives up living in houses, wearing fine clothes, and eating good food, and goes into the desert, may be a most attached person. His only possession, his own body , may become everything to him; and as ...