Newsletter March 19, 2008

Synopsis of Last Week's Classes

Friday - Bhagavad Gita Class - March 14

Ch. 2 Verses 46-47: Lord Krishna, after telling that Yoga has to be practiced to change the direction of life and to take it to the desired goal (attaining which everything one seeks is attained too), is now telling about the yoga of action - Karma Yoga - or the art of doing the work in the proper way. Stopping work is never an alternative. The four principles told in the verse 47 are: 1. Do your work; that alone is your jurisdiction, 2. but don't have any expectations to the fruits of the action; for that is ABSOLUTELY NOT your jurisdiction. 3. Do not worry about success or failure, just do work meticulously and don't expect anything in return. That will prevent the results of the actions from binding you. Work, which has the capacity to liberate us, actually binds us more and more as we expect the results of that work. 4. It's also just as important not to get attached to inaction. Avoiding action is not at all the way to illumination. This will merely make a person indolent and lazy and full of tamas. We want to be more sattvic and holy to make progress.
Of course, not expecting the results does not mean that the work is neglected or is left unfinished. e. g. - washing the clothes is to be done with the 'expected result' of cleaning them; one cannot say, 'I am doing the Karma Yoga of washing the clothes, whether the get clean or not is not my concern'.
There were a few questions relating to expectation arising from doing a good job or the satisfaction one feels when a work is well accomplished.

Sunday - Plotinus on Good and Evil - Swami Yogatmananda - March 16
Plotinus, the philosopher-saint of 3rd Century C.E. is a non-dualist Greek philosopher whose knowledge has originated from divine ecstasy or the transcendental state of Samadhi. He traces the sense of good to the harmony, progress and well-being and shows that the ultimate principle 'The One' which is also 'The Good' is the source of all relative good. Some abstract thinking is required to understand his idea of 'absolute evil', which he explains as image or reflection of The Good. So if the soul is moving towards this ultimate principle, it is in the world full of The Good. Contrary to this - the opposite direction is the source of all evil or the state of non-being which is not just the absence, but the image or reflection. In the ultimate principle, there is no evil. Evil functions in disharmony or as Plotinus calls it, in 'un-measure'. When we look at the reflection, not as reflection but something real, desires spring up and the soul becomes evil. In Bhagwad Gita, Sri Krishna mentions similar idea - desires being the root cause of all sins. Then things are judged according to likes and dislikes and not according to what is right and wrong. Such a soul, touched with 'un-measure' gets attracted towards matter, (for example, body) and goes farther away from The Good. Opposite to this is the journey towards perfection where the focus is on the essence, instead of matter and the priorities are decided based on what is right and what is wrong. Suffering and pain may come, - they need not be evil; in fact they are good if they make the soul move towards he ultimate goal.
According to Plotinus, 'evil' is the world of reflection and the soul entangled in this world, becomes evil. It is interesting to note that Plotinus does not call any action good or evil as such; it depends upon whether the action take the soul towards The Good or way from it. The importance is of the direction.

Tuesday - The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna Class- March 18

We all seek ultimate peace. Sri Ramakrishna, who can see right through our minds, understands our thoughts and problems and shows the way-out. He spoke to Surendra, a devotee working in a merchant's office, about inner renunciation. External renunciation is not for all but the inner renunciation is to be practiced by all and it means one must give up holding on to the notion of "mine" and "I".
Ramakrishna goes on to say there are four types of Gaines we make in this life.
1. dharma-learning righteousness. In other words, being good.
2. artha- idea of money. We need in order to live and get by, but earn it in such a way that is righteous. Use it as needed and not extravagantly.
3. Kama - fulfilling the desires while learning that they are like bottomless pits and running after them piles up more and more bondage.
4. Moksha - Liberation. This is ultimate freedom. We achieve this by giving up desires for enjoyment. Freedom from desires is true happiness even in this world.

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