Bhagavad Gita | The Essence of Vedanta

The lecture was given by Swami Tattwamayananda on December 4, 2020.
-6th chapter: 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41
-Spiritual life is our ideal. We have to restrain the thought currents in the mind by feeding it with positive ideas. However, the mind is called Vikshipta-manah, always wavering like a pendulum.
-Vyasa classifies the human mind into five categories: (1) Kshipta (scattered) (2) Mudha (dull) (3) Vikshipta (partially focused) (4) Ekagra (one-pointed) (5) Niruddha (fully focused). The mind of a normal person is in Vikshipta state.
-Spiritual life is about coming face to face with our own mind. When we try to turn the mind away from the pulls of nature, the mind revolts.
-In the 35th verse, Lord Krishna says to Arjuna: “You are right that the mind is restless and difficult to control. Yet, it can be controlled through constant practice and through renunciation.”
-When we develop a sense of renunciation towards what is harmful to the mind, and we practice disciplines that feed the mind with positive food, then the mind becomes calm and quiet.
-We should slowly withdraw the mind from conflicting thought currents by directing it towards positive channels. The existing storehouse of negative samskaras has to be nullified with a new storehouse of positive samskaras. Positive samskaras are generated by reading of scriptures and through holy associations.
-Spiritual growth is achieved by constant practice and by one’s own self effort. When we are hungry, we have to eat to get rid of the hunger. Similarly, our own effort is crucial for progress in spiritual life. Through practice, one gets uncommon power of mind.
-36th verse: “Yoga is very hard to attain by someone whose mind is not in his control.”
-We should always keep in our mind a spiritual ideal. In the midst of our secular activities, we should recollect our spiritual ideal again and again.
-In the 37th verse, Arjuna asks: “Suppose a person is endowed with shraddha and is making an earnest effort to control his mind. Yet, his mind wanders about, he feels he has not progressed enough, and he fails to attain perfection. What happens to such a person?”
-If a spiritual seeker feels that he is not making progress, it actually shows that he is making progress. Without making progress, he would not feel such dis-satisfaction. At the same time, it means that he has not made enough progress.
-When a person starts his spiritual practices with shraddha - - it is like boarding a train that is bound to reach its destination.
-The person referred to in Arjuna’s question is an ārurukṣhoḥ - a spiritual seeker who is still evolving. He has not reached the Yoga-ārūḍha state, where he experiences identity with the Atman. He could also be a karma-yogi, who has not achieved contentment.
-38th verse: Arjuna continues his question: “Has he totally failed and fallen from both worlds – having neither attained anything in the secular world nor in the spiritual realm?”
-Per Shankaracharya, a spiritual seeker may find himself in a stage where he continues to earnestly pray, do karma-yoga, meditate - and yet does not feel inner contentment. At the same time, he sees others enjoying the world around him. This is a state that every sincere spiritual seeker has to go through.
-Shankaracharya also says that a seeker with shraddha, who has not yet attained the ultimate goal, may have a deviation from his spiritual ideal – this is called Yoga-bhrashta. His past samskaras may assert themselves as one of the following obstacles to deviate him from his spiritual path - Disease, mental laziness, doubt, lack of interest, sloth, clinging to sense pleasures, false perception, lack of concentration, and unsteadiness in concentration.
-There are many examples of seekers who led an intense spiritual life, then had Yoga-Bhrashta in their last life and died. In their new life, at some point, the old positive samskaras assert themselves and lead to a mysterious spiritual transformation in their life.
-Lord Krishna explains later in the 40th and 41st verses: “Even if you had a deviation, do not worry. You will not lose anything. Your spiritual samskaras are like a fixed deposit that no one can take away from you – it is yours forever. Even if you want a material life, you will be forced to continue your spiritual journey.”
-Time is only an imagination. Birth and death are a continuous process. Everyone is born again based on accumulated samskaras.
-Lord Krishna explains further in the 41st verse: “If a devotee has practiced spiritual disciplines in this life but has a deviation towards the end, he will be able to continue his spiritual journey by being born in a family where his parents are spiritually oriented, and where his unfulfilled desires can be fulfilled.”