Narayan
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Narayan
ParticipantHumans have four personalities – physical, mental, intellectual and spiritual.
Our vasanas, as natural inclinations influence these four personalities in a cyclical way. First as desires in the intellect and then as thoughts in the mind.Vasanas rise as desire in the intellect (Intellectual Personality)
The desire gives rise to innumerable Thoughts (and strong emotions) in the mind (Mental Personality)
The thoughts/emotions ultimately compel us to Act through our body (Physical Personality)
The Actions leave imprints – either reinforcing existing Vasanas or creating new ones.
The Actions also have results (Karmaphala) – which add to the Vasanas either in this life or subsequent lives (whenever the karmaphala fructifies).
Thus the Physical, Mental and Intellectual personalities are directly involved in the generation and exhaustion ofVasanas.
The Spiritual personality is not directly involved – it is a witness of the cycle.
ParticipantWhen the law of karma,Vasanas are beyond our memory(either this life or previous life) , how can they be justified?
Not sure, I fully understand the question, but if you mean – why should Karma or Vasanas apply to me since they pertain to a previous life and I have no control over it, here are a couple fo thoughts:
I do not control nature – an dyet I am subject to all laws of nature (eg gravity). Therefore applicability of a law and control over the same are not necessarily related.
While I do not have any control over what happened in the past (and the resulting Karma), the knowledge that my present actions determines my future vasanas – should empower us to do the right thing at all times (after all, while we have no control over the situations that we face, we have a choice in how we respond to them).
ParticipantSummary of Topics 2.1 and 2.2
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Action is inevitable for all living beings – however the quality and texture of action varies, based on the individual’s mental textures and attitudes
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Action can be of 3 types – motivated by selfish desires, motivated by selfless desires, or not motivated by desire. Accordingly, the individual performing the action is a Vyavasāyī, Sevākāri or Yogī
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The Vyavasāyī is mainly driven by his ego, the Sevākāri’s ego is considerably less, while ego is totally eliminated in the Yogī.
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Focusing on selfish desires makes life monotonous with nothing to inspire or aspire for. When the individual focuses on an ideal, it brings joy and a zest for living. When one continues to work selflessly, one eventually starts finding fulfilment in the activity itself – which elevates one to the status of a Yogī.
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While any ideal can motivate one to work, the nobler one’s ideal, the greater the beauty and efficiency of one’s actions, the greater the joy one derives from it, and it makes the individual more successful.
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Working selflessly for a cause higher than one’s egocentric vision develops and integrates one’s inner personality – and puts one on the path to perfection.
ParticipantReflection on Lesson 2 Question 8: Based upon the mode of performance of activities, there are three categories of human beings working in the world. Enumerate and describe them briefly.
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Activity can be motivated by selfish desire, selfless desire, or not motivated by desire. An individual whose work is motivated by selfish desire is known as a Vyavasāyī (Labourer), a person motivated by selfless desire is called a Sevākāri (Worker), while the individual who has overcome desire and works only to fulfill duties and serve all is a Yogī.
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A Vyavasāyī’s work, centered on fulfilling his own desires makes his life monotonous and boring, and the quality and fruits of such labour are low. A Sevakāri, working to achieve an ideal greater than himself, is inspired and finds joy in his work. This reflects in the efficiency and quality of his work, and makes him succeed in life.
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However, true success from doing selfless work is the development and integration of the inner personality – which puts one on the path to perfection: self-realisation and liberation.
ParticipantReflection on Lesson 2 Question 9: What is the significance of the advice given by the religious Masters to choose an ideal or goal in life?
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The religious Masters teach us to choose an ideal that is greater than us and dedicate ourselves to achieving it. Doing so gives us more peace and joy, brings greater efficiency in our work and makes us more successful.
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This also develops our personality, preparing us to aspire for greater ideals. Ultimately, one can then pick the highest and noblest of all ideals – working for the Lord himself.
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When one achieves the level where one’s work is in service of the Lord, executing His will in every activity, one can find perfect peace within, even as one lives and works in this world.
ParticipantA question to have a group discussion on:
Is it possible or practical to take our total number of material desires to zero?
When we stop being attached both to the doing and enjoying of actions, it does not lead to any new desires. It also exhausts existing desires. Thus selfless action or Karma Yoga can be a way to reduce our desires to zero.
ParticipantReflection on Lesson 2, Question 10: Distinguish between Standard of Living and Standard of LIfe giving a suitable illustration
Standard of Living refers to the quality and quantity of the external objects of experience that an individual (or society) has access to, and the comforts that he is therefore able to enjoy. Throughout history, man has been pursuing improvement in standard of living through developments in the secular fields of science, politics, economics etc.
Standard of Life refers to the maturity and integration of an individual’s inner resources, such as: one’s body, mind, and intellect , the four personalities constituting an individual and how aligned they are, all of which determine the level of peace and happiness a person can enjoy. This is the domain of the sacred – religion, philosphy etc.
ParticipantReflection on Lesson 2, Question 11: Write a short note on Path of the Pleasant and the Path of the Good
At every point, we are faced with a choice – choose what we find pleasant or choose what we know is good.
The ability to discriminate between the pleasant and the righteous is something we are all born with, however whether we are able to make the right choice in action depends on the relative strength of our inner instruments: mind and body.
If our mind is in control, we are driven by our feelings and emotions, and choose the path of the pleasant (Preyas).
When our intellect is in control, our actions are guided by our reasoning and judgment. In this case, we choose the path of the good (Shreyas).
Religion and scriptures can help us train the mind and educate the intellect, so that we are able to consistently choose the path of Good over the path of Pleasant.
ParticipantReflection on Lesson 2, Question 12: Distinguish between Suppression and Sublimation
Our happiness, and evolution to perfection, is determined by how well we are able to control our desires. If we can control our desires and reduce their intensity and number, we are able to purify and prepare our mind to proceed further on the spiritual path. If we let our desires control us, we will stagnate or regress on the spiritual path.
There are broadly two ways to control our desire. One is by suppression – where we use the power of our will to overcome desire. Since will power is limited and desires are many, this approach is not sustainable, and we give into our desires sooner or later.
The other path to controlling desire is the path of sublimation. When we pick a goal or ideal that is greater than us, it elevates us above our desires. The desires become unimportant given the loftiness of our ideal. In this situation, we naturally overcome our desires and do not need to suppress them. This is the approach of sublimation of desires.
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