FIND THE PEACE WHICH IS ALWAYS WITHIN YOU FREE VEDANTA ONLINE COURSE TUESDAYS AT 7 PM A PRODUCTION BY SATSANGA ONLINE TRUE KNOWLEDGE ISN'T IN THE BOOKS: IT LIES ONLY IN THE HEART. . .
So, people, in this second half we'll cover a pretty neat topic: understanding a bit more in depth what a lifestyle of yoga is all about. When we join this lifestyle of yoga, we'll often hear words which are misunderstood and yet popular in yoga circles. I'd like to take this chance, at the end of our course, to talk about them.
The first thing would be the true meaning of detachment. People think that having a spiritual life means to become detached: of the world, of things, almost as if we had developed some sort of repulse towards worldly things: "I'll no longer go out with friends: I'm detached", or "I'm now detached from work", "I'll no longer have fun because I'm detached from cinema". This is not detachment: it's called craziness.
Detachment is totally different, albeit, too, a bit crazy: detachment is getting to drop what I no longer want in life. Let's repeat: detachment is my capacity of dropping things I no longer want in my life. One mustn't drop what one wants: this would be crazy!
Drpping what one doesn't want is something to be achieved! How many things in life we don't want but can't drop? Many!
That's why the word "detachment" means so much from the perspective of a spiritual study. I need to create an identity with strength in my personality capable of living the life I'd like to live, and not being in my body and co-star the movie of my own life. I'm strolling.
"What should I do, now? Let me ask my dad. " When will you decide on your own?
"But there is my husband. . .
", "my wife", "him", "her". . .
Ok, but what about your life? Your decisions? What about your capacity of saying what is good for you?
Of deciding your ways? When are you taking the wheel? Once you take the wheel and the responsibility over your own development, instead of externalizing such responsibility, it is said that such person has detachment.
One has acquired the capability of dropping the things one no longer wants. Together with detachment comes "viveka", the capacity of discrimination. Here, for us, they are the same.
Detachment means to be able to discriminate good and bad and, thanks to that, to drop what is bad for me. This is detachment. This is a healthy life, too!
Many of the exercises at a cognitive, social level, asanas, pranayamas, visualizations, etc. , are just meant for us to be whole again and get to have the impression that we have control, deciding what to do with our lives. We, in fact, have no control, but totally letting go of free will won't help.
One must have some free will to move on with life and make decisions, even if one makes mistakes. Even if one is not in control. One must do his share.
Then comes a second concept: Karma Yoga. People, in general, say that Karma Yoga is disengaged service: when you work and wants nothing in return. Attention: danger!
Working without wanting anything in return is no work. Think about it: "I'm working and want nothing in return. " "So, why are you working?
" "To be near swamiji" "So, you want that in return. " "No, see, I just want my spiritual development. " "That's what you want, then!
" Is it really possible to act without wanting anything back? Even if it is your personal satisfaction of doing something you like: there is a trade, there. The idea of acting without wanting anything in return is not to be devised through this angle.
It must be seen from a broader perspective. A mother cares for a child without expecting anything: she has to do so, she'll devout her life to it. Maybe you'll say: "she was cared for and is passing it forward", and yes, it's a trade, but her mind is not focused on it.
In this type of relationship it is very healthy to expect nothing, or, otherwise, true relationships are not possible. Now, when it comes to work, work has to be rewarded by society or nature itself. It's a basic survival rule.
While I'm teaching, I don't have to worry about the cooking of my food: we live in society, so I can leave here, go to a restaurant and eat. At the restaurant, they'll charge me for the food. They won't say: "Oh, food should be free for all!
Sit! Eat! Do you want more noisette potatoes?
Here you go. " They won't say that. Adding noisette potatoes to your dish costs 4.
70. This is not how people relate. Where did the idea that working for nothing in return makes one evolve spiritually comes from?
This is not true. On the contrary. It's a mechanism to manipulate people.
We see that a lot in India. Ashrams are built by people unrelated with the teacher, but who go there and work for six months. .
. Ok, there may be gain to work and live with such people, fine, we are not discussing that. But this is not Karma Yoga.
If we refer to the Gita, where Karma Yoga is defined, it will be defined so: "I carry out my actions and offer them to God, Ishvara, and I receive the fruits of my actions as granted by Him. " I'm capable of seeing when I'm living my life, working, caring for my children, performing all possible exchanges, that I'm not at the wheel of what is going on. I'm aware that I play a small role in this story.
I don't get to decide where my child will go to college. He's a free man and, even though born from me, he'll have his story to write through this own karmas. My role is but a small one in his big show.
One goes to work. A yoga teacher. "I do my best, but the students are not progressing.
" Don't despair! The one who makes them progress is Ishvara, not you! He created the body, the nerves, all things the way they are, created yoga and gave you knowledge: your purpose in class is to share well what you know, and surrender your action to a grand order instead of clinging to expectations for results as if they depended on you.
Karma Yoga is my capacity of appreciating Ishvara's order when I perform my actions. It's like performing daily rituals: cooking becomes a ritual, dealing with your parents becomes a ritual. .
it just does. Their happiness is much larger than me. I want them to be very happy, but they have their issues, as I have mine, so I do what I can, surrender it to the order and let the universe handle it.
Such capacity of living by a broader view on one's actions and on what one is responsible for is called Karma Yoga. When the result comes, one has the same attitude. The result isn't received as: "Why me?
Why are things so? " No. It's fine.
We are in a world under the order of karma, of action and reaction. We're always acting and, thus, amassing intangible results. They are.
. . how can I put it?
They are actualized in our lives without us having control. A baby is born in a poor family and another in a rich one. Both have done nothing: they were not even born!
But they have their karmas, their past, which takes them separate ways. "Oh, I don't believe it. " Then, what do you believe in?
That God chose to make some suffer and privilege others from a "chosen people"? Is this what you believe in? That there is indeed a difference between people, that all such differences are mere whims of God?
This is very unfair, and it's very cruel to shift such responsibility to God. If God has no form, if he's the cause of the universe and has at least some impartiality, if there are such differences, they belong to the world of men, to our histories, to past lives, call it as you wish. In the Vedic tradition, it's called karmas.
In this perspective, whatever comes to us, arrives as being tailor-made for us. If it is a disease, "Om", I'll welcome it and overcome it by doing my best, and if it's something good, "Om", I welcome it in the best way possible. As a yoga teacher, Hermógenes, used to say: "receive, thank, trust.
. . " how was it?
No. "Surrender. .
. " One among the viewers must know! Mara, help us out!
I forgot his nice sentence. "I surrender, I trust, I accept, and I thank. " That's it!
I surrender, I trust, I accept and I thank. Was I awarded this? Om.
I'm not going to get caught in a process of mourning because the world is so and so. People are 70 and complain about the world, and it has always been so. People have always been so.
We haven't changed much. If you look at the Vedas, you'll still see people being ignorant, fighting over silly things, jealousy, envy, etc. It's time to turn the table: turn the table and say: "The world is as it is, I'm not in charge of things, I won't stay long: surrender, trust, accept and thank, and move on.
" This is Karma Yoga: this capacity of seeing my life from a broader perspective. But, in some way, Karma Yoga was mistaken for working for free, and applied to teachers! This is an absurd.
Knowledge has no price. Know this: it has no price. It is granted from one person to the other.
It's not affordable. But all those who work and study are normal people, and their invested hours are billable. You'll deal with people, devout your life to them, but you must support your children, eat, do your things, study, improve continuously.
. . Attention, yoga teachers!
If you are watching this, please charge for your classes! Not charging yoga classes is not right: it doesn't help neither you, nor the students, since they won't have the attitude of valuing it. How much does a Victor Hugo purse cost, Pollyana?
-Switch on her sound? -She must switch it on. It must cost at least USD 150.
At least. If you charge USD 15 for a yoga class, people say it's too much. One class, USD 15: too much!
Within such people, Lakshmi is unbalanced. Lakshmi is this energy of money, resources. They can't value themselves.
Just external things. They'll spend more on others than on themselves. It's indeed impossible.
Part of studying and self-knowledge is valuing oneself and seeing studying as an investment on oneself. This is key. Anyway.
I won't stress this too much, though, or soon I'll be accused of selling yoga and asking for money. I'm not asking for money. This is a free course, it's free for all and I'm thrilled about it.
Let us continue. We talked about Karma Yoga and we talked about detachment. Now, an interesting point.
Some ask: "Why must we be vegetarians? " The point is not really being a vegetarian. Let me tell you about a hidden camera prank on TV: I love such pranks, and this special one goes like this: there is a wooden box with a whole exactly as large as a sausage.
Sausages are expelled from that box. Someone from the production feeds them in there. Then, this lady comes.
It's a supermarket. Ivo Holanda, an actor, is there, disguised, offering a spicy, great sausage. He says: "Would you like to try this delicious sausage?
" She eats it and she likes it. The concept is pulled right. Then, he says: "Take some with you!
It's freshly made. We make them on the spot for you! " Fine.
She says: "Sure, I'll have them! " He replies: "It's very quick! You'll see!
" Them, from behind the counter, he takes a piglet. A live piglet. And places it in the box.
Once he does that, she shouts: "Hey, what are you doing? ! " "Well, it's a fresh product!
It'll come right up. " An engine sound starts and sausages are spilled off. People freak out.
They just freak out! They want to eat, but not to deal with the piglet's death! No one wants.
My grandmother had a chicken, and so did the neighbor. Did they eat their own chicken? No.
When they wanted to eat them, they'd switch chickens. Neighbors would trade chickens. Otherwise, they couldn't eat them!
In our human hearts, there is sensibility towards animals. No one wants to see suffering and pain. Who can eat beef after watching a show on baby beef?
Impossible. If you are not a vegetarian, do this experiment so as to test your sensitivity. I'll describe it.
Imagine. Put a beef before you. An ox comes your way, all in one piece.
An ox comes, or a cow. But you can't kill the cow at once and shred it: you have to kill it little by little, so that the blood may drip for the meat to taste good. So, the first thing they do is to slash her wrists on the four legs, to exsanguinate them, and hang them on hooks who carry the cow through the facility.
But you can't eat it yet, since there is the skin. It is still alive. -So, they take a blow torch.
. . -The fur.
. . Yes, the fur is removed with a blow torch.
So, they torch the cow. It is still alive, so it wriggles, convulses. Picture this.
Once this is done, the fur falls all at once. And the skin comes off. Now comes the reason why we are vegetarians.
They take two rolls which move like this, inwards towards each other, and, in between them, skin gets caught. So, they take that cut on the animal's legs and place the animal, who is hooked by its spine, with the foot between the rolls. It steps in there, and the rolls just.
. . All at once, the entire skin is stripped off.
They are still alive. They wriggle and wriggle. All toxins coming from the animal's distress and anger are there, in the meat, now.
If you get to see it and manage to just go on with life, you're devoid of a heart. No kidding. Once this happens, they start to cut it in pieces.
Then, you lose sight of those pieces as formerly a cow: you'll just cook those pieces and serve them. You'll eat them. Why am I a vegetarian?
I want no part in this hell! Obviously. See?
It's not that we must be vegetarians: it's like being against corruption, stealing, and all rotten things in society. If anyone is making Ganesha statues using child labor, which is not my case! This was a gift from my teacher!
But, if there were, we'd be against it! We wouldn't buy it or pray for this Ganesha. Would we support child labor just because it's Ganesha?
Of course not! In this lifestyle of yoga, responsibility and sensitivity are nurtured in dealing with people and in dealing with oneself. And we often make mistakes.
We often make mistakes, and we have to be humble enough to fix things and proceed more harmoniously to all involved. Are there rules about what to do? None.
There are places, even in India, where one can only eat fish, even swamis eat fish. It's not a rule, eating meat or not. There are no rules.
It's a matter of sensitivity and of an internal perspective. If perspective and sensitivity are available, you feel like you're adding to the world by not eating meat. This without mentioning all the ecological impact associated to raising cattle and such things.
You feel like you're contributing when you eat broccoli despite longing for chicken hearts: "Dude, the heart! The chicken is dead! " But when you eat the broccoli, although it may not be so tasty, you know you are doing a good thing.
This nourishes you in a way that the chicken heart just can't. It nourishes you with a different type of energy in life. This is why vegetarianism, speaking the truth, of living a good life, being generous, giving money to the needed, to panhandlers and so on, this is why all such actions become part of one's routine when one seeks for sensitivity.
So, naturally, people look for what needs to be done and do it. Life goes on like this. So, vegetarianism is yet another heated subject in the world of yoga, and people keep on creating all such rules.
Vegetarianism is not about becoming special: "I, now, study yoga, and I no longer eat meat. " -"Why not? " -"My body's energies are balanced.
. . " Come on!
Go back to eating meat. It's just not working. Your yoga is not a lifestyle.
Not eating meat is about the animal, not the meat. Who has seen the YouTube video of that little guy, that one from the octopus? Luis, right?
Luis Antônio, the kid with the octopus. Have you seen it? His mother is about to serve him pasta with sliced octopus.
Then, the mother says: "Son, eat the octopus. " Then, he's like: "But, mom, where is the octopus? " "Right here, in the dish.
" "But, mom, the octopus is alive, right? " "No, his legs were cut off for you to eat. The octopus is right here.
" -"But where is he alive? " -"At the fisher's market. " The boy can't eat it.
"Is he alive without his legs? " "No, well, son. .
. we eat the octopus. " She can't say she's part of it, of the octopus's killing.
"We eat the octopus. " Right. "I won't eat the octopus, mom, because he is my friend.
" Look at this: "The octopus is my friend! " Even a 3-year-old gets to see this truth. For us to get over this, social training is required for us to become desensitized.
Like the Germans managed to create concentration camps in a war situation, like the Portuguese, upon their arrival in India, acted abhorrently in Goa, perpetrating terrible deeds, human beings can do such things. We must be in tune so as to see when our culture and way of life, even though adopted by all, goes against our nature, our sensitivity. This is a life of Yoga.
And we owe explanations to no one regarding what we eat. This is how we are. Who cares if everyone eats so?
Who cares if people act differently? All parents spank their kids? Well, we don't have to.
We won't spank them. This excuse that "everyone does so" is floppy. Each person is responsible for their actions.
If we live and perpetrate acts of violence, rest assured we'll pay for them, sooner or later. And also presently. Sometimes we can't realize what is going on, but think about it: think of a father who beats his son every day, as there are many.
How does this person live with himself? How can he be whole when he leaves for work? He can't be whole.
At any time. He has to disconnect from himself, live through a character, play society's game: "I'm doing it since I was told to. So are things.
" Through that, he lives detached from himself. Since Yoga is an attempt to reconnect oneself, one will do whatever it takes to regain such sensitivity. This is what is called life of yoga, Karma Yoga: names that point at this specific way of living.
It's a quest for an internal reunion. So, this was today's class. Our second half covered the lifestyle of Yoga.
I'll chant the final mantra and, if anyone wants to chat, I'll hang out for a bit, here. Are there any announcements to make? -Yes: the new group.
-Oh, the new group! Many enrolled in the new group that will start in October, but I was thinking of starting it earlier, since so many are with us! But let's see what people think about it.
You may not know how the regular groups work, so let me explain. We devised for Vishva Vidya, when I left India, advised by Sw. Dayananda, a study program that was complete, that could recreate the program I took in India.
So, we start with a regular group that lasts for 18 months, and, within those 18 months, we meet online regularly and have two meetings, such as the one we're holding at Serra do Cipó, in October. Those are group meetings. Study progresses, we learn meditation techniques, which are very much needed.
And there is also a 15-day retreat which is part of the program. It's called Vedanta Camp and it usually encompasses the Carnival holiday so that it doesn't eat up too much vacation time. It's easier to attend, then.
This is all part of the 18-month program. As the study progresses, there is an in-depth learning group and other developments. This is a brief overview.
I'll maybe remove it from the video so as not to sound too commercial! Sorry? A cheap add, yeah!
So, let us chant the final mantra. FIND THE PEACE WHICH IS ALWAYS WITHIN YOU FREE VEDANTA ONLINE COURSE TUESDAYS AT 7 PM A PRODUCTION BY SATSANGA ONLINE TRUE KNOWLEDGE ISN'T IN THE BOOKS: IT LIES ONLY IN THE HEART. .
.
