Story so far:
Sugreeva has been made king of Kishkindha. The rainy season is upon the land. Rama and Laxmana remain in a cave outside the city walls and tell Sugriva that they will wait for the rains to subside. Rama waits patiently, worried about Sita's misery. Sugriva is lost in the revelry of returning to the palace and enjoys the pleasures of being king. When the rainy season ends, Sugriva is not forthright in fulfilling his promise and Rama is annoyed. He sends Laxmana as his envoy to Sugriva and Laxmana's anger reminds Sugriva of the need to fulfill his promise to his friend.
Monkeys from all over the kingdom are summoned and instructed to go in all four directions to look for Sita. Since Ravana was seen flying to the south, Hanuman, Angad and Jambuvan are sent to the south. Rama gives Hanuman his ring to give to Sita so she may recognise him. After a month of many trials, the monkeys reach the southern coast and are so morose that they have not sighted Sita yet. Some talk about giving up their lives. Sampaati, an old vulture listening to them narrate the story of Rama, hears them talk about his brother Jatayu and he asks them for more information. He also tells them that he can see Sita sitting in a garden in Lanka. The monkeys are overjoyed and begin to decide who should jump over the ocean to find her. Finally Jambuvan reminds Hanuman of his real strength and he grows in size. At this point the kids narrated the childhood story of Hanuman and the curse that he would forget his powers.
Once Hanuman is flying across the ocean, he encounters the mountain, Surasa the snake and another demon who captures him through his shadow. In all cases with wit, humor and strength he is able to overcome the obstacles and reach Lanka.
Keys to success
Exploring the mind:
Review from last class- subjective and objective mind.
Four Personalities:
Human beings have four personalities- Physical, Mental, Intellectual, Spiritual.
When an individual, comes in contact with the object of experience, all 4 personalities are ready to enjoy the object. They all rise up with their own demands.
Ex: Neighbor gives a piece of yummy chocolate cake.
Eyes, nose enjoy the sight and smell of the cake.
Mental personality also rushes forth to experience this.
Intellectual personality - reminds of the warning of sugar content in the cake
Spiritual personality: warns about the limitations and temptations of sense objects.
Subtler Joy:
Human beings are ready to sacrifice demands of grosser personality to those of subtler ones. Subtler the personality, greater is the satisfaction. Also the more discriminative you are, you tend to listen to the higher personality in you. Examples needed from class - limb amputation, social or political cause)
As our mind, so is the world:
We recognize or experience the world by the mind.
Scientist sees- world as an expression of physical forces
Botanist - walks through garden, makes a note of flower its parts etc
Lover - sees beloved when he sees the flower.
Objects remaining the same, experiences are different.
As our mind, so is the world.
Right Action:
Then:
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How do i prepare for right action in the world?
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How can i get my mind to follow me
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How can i improve daily contacts in my life?
Sharpen your intellect, negate the negative thoughts, substitute with positive thoughts, flood the mind with creative thoughts.
More discriminatory you are, more you can quieten the agitations of the mind.
Meditation:
We did Vedantic meditation in the class where we taught the class to quieten the mind with japa followed by focus on the silence in between the mantras.
Experiment:
A lamp was placed and was turned on. Few sheets of paper were placed on the top to cover the light and later with a cloth. Later, one by one the covering was removed. As the covering got removed, light shone brightly. Similarly, the lord within us is covered by agitations of the mind. Learn to quieten the mind and experience the bliss within.
Assignment for this week:
Sit down quietly/ Meditate with any of the techniques discussed in the class for at least five minutes everyday.
