FIND THE PEACE WHICH IS ALWAYS WITHIN YOU FREE VEDANTA ONLINE COURSE TUESDAYS AT 7 PM A PRODUCTION BY SATSANGA ONLINE COLLABORATE PLACE YOUR BRAND HERE In the last class, we saw that our mind, according to the Vedic tradition, that is, Ayurveda, Vedic astrology, Vedanta and all Vedic disciplines are based on those four stages undergone by our minds. While the mind goes through those four stages over time, it's as if, from another angle in the matrix, we had four possibilities of work or groups within society. This is largely misunderstood by modern society.
The word for that is "varna", which means color. Different colors, different ways of being for us. The idea was originally the following: As a story puts it, two rshis sat at the dawn of times and discussed how they would go about organizing society: after all, people are born due to ignorance, which leads to desires, greed, envy and all causes for disputes.
"So, how can we structure a society based on ignorance? ", and, so, they came up with the following. It's a story, ok?
They thought of the following: "We'll divide the determining, essential factors of a society in four groups, without allowing any of them to be dominant over the other three. " By doing that, since people will depend on others, they'll have to work somewhat harmoniously. Like in a company or wherever, when there is a salesman and other workers, there is mutual love, since the work of one adds to others, when social groups hold different forces within society, they cooperate so as to be able to live better off.
Such division in four groups is not determined by birth, like people imagine it to be with the castes: "one was born within a family, so he is so and so". All attempts to place people under labels or molds using determining factors such as place of birth and residence is useless and not intended by the Vedic tradition. Famous stories in the tradition depict people being born in a family but belonging, in fact, to other castes, meaning to carry out a different social function.
There is no such thing as being "casteless", either, as it was shown in a Brazilian telenovela. The concept of being casteless was introduced by modern Indian society and such. As foreigners arrived, how would Indians assign them castes?
They didn't know what to say and dubbed them casteless. Interestingly, if foreigners were casteless, they had to be treated like those devoid of placement and function. But foreigners did not want to be treated as outcasts, so, they created a name for casteless Indians, the so called "dalits", if I'm not mistaken.
The concept behind the dalits was created within Indian society upon the arrival of foreigners, so that they could be told apart from the rejected outcasts. But, according to the Vedas, regardless of birthplace and origin, everyone has a caste since everyone has a mind with its proper way of working. Let us now understand the four types of mind available in our society.
No single one is best. On we go. To understand that, we'll look at the mind as if structured by sattva, rajas and tamas.
Sattva, rajas and tamas are three humors, three colors that the mind has. Sattva has to do with thinking processes, abstractions, logical relfections. It's associated to white, to purity, to subtleness.
So is this quality called sattva. The second quality is called "rajas": it's the quality associated to movement, to the color red, to the emotions, to action. Everything that has to do with movement is called "rajas".
The third quality of the mind is called Tamas: such qualities pervade the whole universe, not just the mind! The third one is called "tamas". Its color is black.
It represents non-abstract, mechanical processes. It represents force, weight, sturdiness, nearly the opposite of sattva. Such three qualities may be distributed in the mind in different combinations.
When the prevailing quality in the mind is tamas, you'll usually have tamas followed by rajas, since tamas does not match sattva, so we'll have tamas, rajas and sattva. This would be the first type of combination. For those people, work and their dealing with this world in general, is not predominantly intellectual.
Their work is mostly manual, not necessarily mechanical, though, since craft is often needed, but their work is not mostly mental: it's rather executional, infrastructural, it's the very working force that moves a country ahead. This is composed by this layer in which tamas predominates. In the Indian society, this layer, this varna, is called "shudra": people in whose minds tamas predominates.
Of course, this corresponds to most people, since it's what society needs the most in order to work. You may have an engineer who, all by himself, creates the architectural plan for a huge building, but, in order to build it, hundreds of people need to work, and those people cannot sit all day, theorizing: they must operate, do things. Such people are not lazy: on the contrary.
They have great value. They are the very feet of the entire society. They are what makes society work.
This is the first group. Now, the second group, and, here, there is no hierarchy, note that it's just a description of mental combinations! The second group is the one with rajas in the foreground.
Since rajas is the middle one, there will be two subgroups: rajas in the foreground followed by tamas and rajas in the foreground followed by sattva. When rajas, the movement, is in the foreground and is followed by tamas, it's said that such people's minds are turned to trading, tuned into immediate, personal gains, thinking of themselves as restricted individuals within society. If you talk to an Indian who is part of the second group, he'll say his group is the best, as will one from the first group.
No one wants to change groups, there is no competition. It's a matter of awareness on one's type of mind. Such people will then be keen on trading, on shifting resources.
They'll make big plans, transfer resources and invest. They are the beating heart of a society, moving things around and making things happen. So is the second layer, the "vaishyas".
They have rajas in the foreground, so they are always in movement, with tamas coming in second, being thus able to create results since they are thinking of themselves. They make things happen for themselves and, for their own sake, they make society move forward. Metaphorically, they are then the thighs of a society, what makes society run, move forward.
The stronger the vaishyas in a group are, the richer that society will be. Ok? The third group has rajas in the foreground, but it is followed in importance by sattva.
Even though one is very active, such movement is based on philosophical thinking. It's based on ideals, on defending ideas. The movement isn't aimed at personal gain, money or resources: it is based on a social perspective.
Such thing is rare. Such people are rare. They are dubbed "kshatriyas".
They are endowed with movement and their job is to protect society. Theoretically, they should be our rulers, our leaders. They should lead groups, since they are the ones with the capacity and longing to think collectively.
Sometimes, while in school, we see clearly that there is a group of fellow students who carry within a desire for a kind of political manifestation: they want to speak out in favor of causes. You're like: "Come on! Once again defending animals?
" We love them, too, we're all vegetarians, since, classically, Vedanta students are vegetarian, as we'll discuss one day. It's not about that. It's just that some people are so obsessed about animals and we can't see why or how!
How come they care so much? And they'll think the same: "How come they care so little about so many abandoned animals? How come?
! " It's interesting to contemplate the types of mind. It's, then, a third type of mind.
It thinks about the whole and acts. It never stops: it thinks of the collective and acts. Sometimes, such people are annoying, since they are always discussing politics and all.
They get each other, but not a vaishya, someone focused on trade: "This guy only cares about his causes! Go and work, create resources! " They are, however, working.
Someone has to do this. After all, someone needs to care, to push things forward. Someone has to shock society and organize it, show us what we're doing wrong.
Those are our innate leaders, the kshatriyas. Theoretically, all policemen and rulers should be kshatriyas. The fourth group is the one with sattva in the foreground.
The capacity of thinking is in the foreground. This being, the following element can only be rajas, since sattva and tamas are opposed. When sattva is in the foreground, one likes to think.
One likes to develop ideas, one likes to create. For them, it's very difficult to work with other things. If I ask one with a sattva-based mind to paint a room: "Vishva Vidya needs to be painted.
Could you paint this room? Here's the ink and the brush. Just go at it.
" Once you come back, the person will have painted a square with the top half painted vertically and the bottom half, horizontally. When you arrive, the person will ask you which one you prefer. "I want you to paint the wall!
How can it be so difficult? " It can, since this person's mind can't cope with such activities. But if, in turn, you ask her to plan our trip for the meet-up at Serra do Cipó, schedule everything, plan all the arrivals for people coming from all over Brazil, the activities.
. . She'll spend all day thinking and will come up with a solution.
But if you ask her to paint a wall, nothing comes out of it. This person has neither executional capability nor the capacity to hold back on her mental processes on behalf of the execution, which is what the shudra has. And he doesn't even want to think that hard.
If you ask him to paint the wall, it will be done in one hour, when you come back. If you ask him, though, to sit and think of what to do, he'll sit all day long! If you want to build a building, you'll need someone who has the vision to organize and delegate, as well as people accomplishing such tasks.
You can't have just one side. Such energies are complementary. When our social function has been established based on this energy, we feel like we are doing what we were supposed to.
It goes beyond where we are: you can be in the business of contractors, as I mentioned, and work with something incompatible with your mind. There is nothing wrong in saying: "I just want to do, not to think"! We usually giggle, for Vedanta students usually have sharp thinking and actually long to think.
We, then, marvel at those who get to live like this. But go and talk to them: "Who thinks and reads all day? Studies Sanskrit?
What for? What for? One must carry on with life, do things!
" If our assigned functions do not match our mental type, problems arise. Think about it: what happens when you put a vaishya to do the work of a kshatriya? The person has the mind of a trader and receives a political position: what will he do?
Business, of course. Through their political standing, they'll look for personal gain in sneaky ways. What if you take a kshatriya and ask him to paint a wall?
What will he do? He'll found a union! "The union of the wallpainters who'll fight the nasty smell of ink", and will paint zero walls.
And you won't get to fire him! What if you take a kshatriya and ask him to work sattvically, doing a brahmin's work? Brahmins are, theoretically, those who predominantly think.
What will happen, then? Nothing. Study or mental work will be seen as windows for creating things.
For defending ideas. And we do see that, in society. While at work, we see people who are clearly at the wrong place.
From the Vedas' standpoint, more important than what you do is the type of work you are doing: within your structure and setting, find work that matches you. Let me give you a personal example: my mother enjoys refurbishing. She says to me: "I need your help.
" I reply: "Sure. What do you need? " "Let's take measures of this place and think of the best arrangements.
" "Fine. " We measure, throw everything in the computer, think a little and come to a conclusion. Then, she says: "Let's discuss things.
" "No. Let's not. I'm here to think of the best option.
It's what I like doing. I won't discuss problems. This is my solution.
What do you think? " It's all part of life, since people think differently. Now, time for the construction work!
It gets started. She asks me to check on the progress. I do go, but how long can I stand there?
Five minutes. I just can't stay longer, since this type of work isn't compatible with my mind. I start to feel tense, nervous.
Sometimes people just don't get it: "What's the matter? Just watch their work to see if it's right. " Well, that work doesn't match what my mind can do and enjoys doing, so it can't work.
Now, considering this matrix of four stages of life and four types of mind, we'll be placed as in a battleship game: the type of mind we have and our current stage of life. For each type of mind, the same stages of life apply, but different things will be learned and done in those stages. From the worldly standpoint, the Vedas can't tell us much since we just have to go and live our daily lives: we don't need anyone telling us what to do workwise.
That's not the point. From the spiritual standpoint, though, there is a need for a higher understanding. This is why understanding this matrix is so important.
"I'm at the brahmachari stage. " Regardless of your type of mind, social status or place of birth, what is required from you is learning. Learning what will create future possibilities of work and the basic values that will make you a good human being.
In the next stage, you must work. Contribute to society. Each person contributes in his own way.
This is when you'll deal with your likes and dislikes, learn that you're not in control in life, and this, sometimes, after many hits against walls: you try to make things happen as you wanted and fails. By dealing with this, we create resilience and move on with the second stage. Of course: as a trader, for instance, your role within society and your possible contributions to people are differentiated, as are your level of resources and opportunities.
Your responsibilities, thus, are also differentiated. Positions grant us different responsibilities and duties before society. Then, we'll move on to vanaprastha.
Here, once again, all will seek a calmer state of mind. All will seek an answer to life, self-knowledge, dedication to things such as Vedanta study. .
. a lot of time will be put into that. Each one will do it respecting one's own terms.
There is no right or wrong. There is no need for equality from a social and material standpoint. Equality takes place at the level of one's spiritual development.
Everyone will undergo that stage. Looking from this angle, there is no difference. One may work with simpler things, such as a doorman, while others may own businesses and millions: both will sit at the same Vedanta class and tackle the same issue.
One will of the other doormen who are bullying him, and the other will say his business peers are doing the same. It's the same complaint: the ground is shared. They'll live that same moment.
Having done so successfully, one completes the vanaprastha stage with a sound spiritual base, a mind capable bearing itself and the knowledge of the free self one truly is, as proposed by the fourth quest. Completing the fourth quest belongs to the third stage of life. Once the fourth quest is completed, one enjoys the fourth stage of life by living a contemplative life.
Quite logically, if the fourth quest hasn't yet been completed, one still has those "semifinals" to use for this task. We, sometimes, think that, from a spiritual standpoint, we're too late. I get e-mails from people saying they are already 70 years old and only now they came across this knowledge.
So, I tell them: "70? You're young! " 70 years isn't anything!
When I was studying in India, the eldest student was 95! This knowledge isn't here to bring you something new in the world. You've got nothing to lose!
When you find yourself mature enough and have the chance to follow it, that is the right moment. Maybe one will still be a brahmachari and needs to find a way to study in accordance to one's life. But the study has a certain constancy.
A very famous Vedanta text, called Saadhana Panchakam, maybe you've heard of it, starts with "vedo nityamadhiiyataam": "vedah nitya madhiiyataam", meaning the Vedas, adhiyataam, must be studied always. It's like an instruction manual for life itself: how to deal with the mind, the emotions, how to communicate with people. Unfortunately, though, the chance to study isn't granted to people in an uniform way.
It may be found in different moments of life. This class is important for us to be able to accommodate this study in the stage of life we're currently at. We shouldn't try and change our current moment of life due to the study.
The study is meant to try to add to the life we lead and bring up harmony, since, deep down, what we're going through, now, be it challenges in relationships or at work, or within our families, all of that is part of our spiritual development process. They aren't separate things. We don't need to create a second environment to develop.
With whom must I practice my values such as ahimsa? With whom? One's yoga teacher?
No, with one's parents! One's family, the ones who are closest. It's very easy to do that with the yoga teacher: "What is ahimsa?
" "Not hurting one's back. " This isn't ahimsa. It's not.
The purpose of such yamas and niyamas is not for them to be practiced in a yoga studio. You may even learn them there, and it's good that it is so, but you must take them to your everyday life! This attempt we make to shove all spiritual learnings into the practice of asanas, which is often seen, isn't reality.
This isn't knowledge. Maybe the onset of a process, if so. Ahimsa isn't not to hurt one's body.
Not hurting one's body is also ahimsa, but ahimsa isn't that: it's much bigger. Ahimsa means for you to find in yourself a basis of non-violence, of loving thy neighbor, which encompasses many things: looking for harmony in one's household, at the workplace, being whole as a person, dropping harmful addictions which attack ourselves. There lies the true spiritual path.
One's spiritual path isn't up on the mountains, it lies in the cave of one's very home. The elders are our swamis, with so much to impart to us. Once we're humble enough to open up to the world, rest assured that spiritual development will happen quickly.
While we are stuck to ideas such as going to India so as to receive a secret mantra which will fix everything, our lives, even spiritually, will be stuck. This won't work. I've never seen this working for anyone, and, when and if it did, it would be a big disappointment.
You see people depositing all their energy to obtain answers in life on someone else, far away, or on someone with special powers, as it also happens, and the truth is that the answer doesn't lie there. It lies much closer than we imagine. Let us look to our lives, to the moment we're crossing, as the perfect scenario that God has put before us so that we can develop spiritually, and use spirituality to live better right here, instead of trying to escape here so as to find an answer.
It doesn't work like that. Even at the ashram, where I spent four years, people who go there to study aren't people looking for an answer there. They are people like me, who already studied in Brazil.
I'd been studying for 7 years, and that's all I did at home. So it would be better to an asrham and study with peers, right? People ask me if it was hard to drop everything.
Without a doubt! Leaving things behind to look for higher things is always tough, but it's not as hard and crazy as it seems because, for one to get to do this, one must be already living like this, instead of deciding this while inquiring or travelling. It doesn't work like this.
Changes must occur internally, first, and then the external side follows suit, mirroring what is happening internally. With these words, I'll wrap up today's class. I'll stick around for questions and comments for a bit.
Let me chant the final mantra.
