Hari om everyone,
Here's the synopsis of our class this week. After meditation, we did Ch. 3 Geeta chanting. We have now learned till verse 35 and it is coming along really well!
Our Kyun Kyun - (QQ - Quirky Question) for the day: Which is the one word that is spelled incorrectly in ALL the dictionaries of the world?! Our class is super smart... they knew the answer - the word 'incorrectly'! :)
We continued our discussion of chapter 7, jnaana-vijnaana yoga. We had seen earlier that brahman comprises of - higher (paraa) prakruti and lower (aparaa) prakruti. His lower prakruti is all matter of the world. That matter becomes sentient because of His higher prakruti.
Krishna said the entire world is strung in him like pearls on a string. Here, Krishna was referring to Himself from the standpoint of brahman, not His birth as Krishna. He has created them all simultaneously, all at once.
We understood these concepts with many examples. One of them was aunty's dream.
In her dream, she had gone on a trekking expedition over mountains, cliffs, valleys, and castles! She had to balance on a ladder-like swinging bridge hanging over a steep cliff. The winds were so violent that the bridge was swaying crazily at that height that it could make anyone shudder! Suddenly she realized everyone had returned on a different path. She backtracked her steps and joined the rest of the troupe and she was upset that they had not stopped her from going forward!! :)
In this dream, did the cliffs, valleys, etc. come into existence one after the other? Not really. It is not like a painting where I paint one tree after another. Everything came into existence in the dream all at once! Similarly, every aspect of the world came into being all at once, not one after the other.
The students were asked, 'so, what was my dream made up of?'
They said, 'your mind/thoughts...'
Bingo! They were right!! I could create in my dream ONLY with my thoughts..., the ones I had already seen during my waking hours.
We wanted to extend this logic..., 'what if I was sleeping in my dream and dreamt that I had a dream in that dream sleep?' (zoom in)
OR
(zoom out) 'What if right now, we are ALL inside the dream of someone else?!' :)
Well, we were inching toward the plot of the movie, Inception. This movie takes a lot of concepts from our scriptures. We were discussing this movie's plot and everyone wanted to watch the movie. Next question: 'Then, why not watch it as a class?!'
So..., we are planning a fun, fun Movie Day Out very soon for our class!! Please watch out for more info.
We then discussed - Who thinks of God? When do we think of God?
The answers were: before a test; when we want something; when we are guilty; when we are hopeless; when we are in trouble; Saints/Sages; right now, in class!
Can't be more proud of our class!! They had named ALL 4 categories of people who think of God/His nature!
- aarta (one who is distressed)
- arthaarthi (one who is seeking wealth)
- jijnaasu (one who seeks knowledge - us)
- jnaani (one who is wise - already knows about Him - saint/sages)
We then discussed how relevant every aspect of Bhagavadgeeta is for us!! We may already know some of the things Krishna said. But we may not have categorized them this way. It is almost like our scattered knowledge is like spilled water. Krishna puts that water (knowledge) into buckets and makes it available for us, for practical usage!
We discussed the 'dharma' of different objects. The Dharma of an object is defined as that which gives the object its very existence! Ex: dharma of water is wetness; dharma of fire is heat; dharma of wind is to blow; etc. Water found anywhere is wet. Fire in any part of the world is hot. Wind in any country will blow...
So, as humans, what is the commonality that we can call our 'dharma'? Why is it that only humans are so different in so many different ways?! What makes us like that? What is our dharma then?
Our super smart students said because we can think, because we are born differently, etc. Precisely! It is this 'free will,' the ability to think and make choices that makes us different. Hence, understanding our true dharma becomes more difficult. We will discuss this further in the upcoming classes.
Until then, look forward to more info about the Movie Day Out.
We will leave you with these thoughts -
Regards,
Rashmi.
Rashmi.
