CHYK Blogs & Discussions

Hari Om,

CHYK Toronto & Mississauga Blogs are now available!

We are pleased to announce that the CHYK Toronto and CHYK Mississauga blogs are now up and running!  Every week, the "Total Thoughts" from our Sunday and Monday discussions will be posted and available for everyone to read.

Check them out at:

http://chyktoronto-missisauga.blogspot.com/
http://chyktoronto-downtown.blogspot.com/

The blogs are also available directly from the CHYK Toronto website:  www.chyktoronto.org

REMINDER: CHYK Toronto Discussions resume this week!

Downtown Toronto:
Date:  Sunday, February 22, 2009
Time:  5:30-7:00pm

Mississauga:
Date:  Monday, February 23, 2009
Time:  7:45-9:15pm

For more details please visit our website or Facebook Group!

CHYK Class Notes: Art of Manmaking - Chpt 7-11

This post covers the main ideas taken from Chapters 7 to 11 and few discussion points from those classes.

Chapters 7-11:

Kauravas vs. Pandavas

• What they represent in us - divine impulses in us vs. negative tendancies
• Duryodhana representing our mind under stress and its reaction to those around him and the world outside
• The choice brought before them - the backing of Krishna vs. large army with full weaponry

Theory of Perception

• About perception and response
• Flow is objects (stimuli) > senses > mind > intellect > mind > organs of action > actoin
• Arjuna's perception is blurred and his response is paralyzed
• The importance is in the Mind and Intellect - the mind should not be agitated and there should be clarity within intellect (we must be able to see it for what it is). When the mind is agitated, reason will not be heard, and not enough information/incorrect information would be sent to the intellect in making judgement.

What the Conches represent

• When we declare something, we need to send it out in a loud sound so it sends a very strong message - the power is in the exclamation (i.e. when the Pandavas blow the conch, it shows 'we are ready')
• Provides self-reassurance
• All of our thoughts have engery - sends ripple effects. The conch is the medium to amplify the message, which empowers you and all around you.

Other main themes in these chapters include:

• The nature of the Ego - identification with "I" and "My"
• How do we find our dharma and oiur purpose? It is more clear to Arjuna as his role is defined as a kshatriya. But in modern day, roles are many, choices are many, so how do we get tuned into our life's purpose?

Swami Shantananda's Yagna

Swami Shantananda's Yagna in Toronto was March 31-April 5th. I was lucky enough to attend most of his evening lectures and his retreat entitled "The Art of Making Right Choices". I took down as many notes as possible - of course I could not capture everything he said, but below is my summary of his lectures and retreat. Please feel free to add/comment - would love to hear your opinions!!
- Anjali

Swami Shantananda’s Yagna – Evening Classes:
Happiness:
Happiness is not in objects. If an object had the capacity to give happiness, it should do so at all time to all people. We know this is not the case (i.e. I love apples but my neighbor hates them), therefore we should understand that happiness cannot be found in material objects – instead we must look inside ourselves to find our happiness.

Karma Yoga:
Karma Yoga is action which purifies the mind – it means performing actions with detachment and pure devotion to the Lord. As humans, we are always performing actions. For one to be action-less, he must be desire-less, and therefore vasana-less. As we have already discovered, to be vasana-less is close to impossible, therefore we are always in a state of action.

The problem with performing actions is that we have a tendency to be bound by our reactions to the results. Swamiji says we should detach ourselves from the result. Rather than acting to obtain a certain result, we should perform all actions as worship to the Lord. When we act with such devotion, the results become less important. This is Karma Yoga.

Why should we act with such devotion? Well consider this: Whatever is needed in life is provided to us. We have oxygen, a mother’s milk, teeth to eat solid food with, a heart, a digestive system, etc. He has provided everything for us, so we should at least acknowledge His great benevolence.

But how can one act with such devotion when there are so many distractions in everyday life? Our actions are influenced by the many sense pleasures we experience – we are tempted to act in a way that agrees with our temptations. Swamiji’s advice is to not give so much importance to the temptations. Our sense organs can be controlled, it is our mind that needs controlling. Control of the mind comes only when we give less importance to the things we see/hear/touch/smell/taste. When we pay attention to these pleasures, we are creating vasanas which, as we know, are very difficult to remove.

It’s important to remember that our thoughts are temporary – they constantly come and go. We, on the other hand, are permanent – our consciousness will always be there. So when our mind asks us to repeat the performance of a past action, Swamiji warns us not to come under its grip, not to succumb to our vasanas. Instead, try to ignore the thought. If we do this long enough, the thought will eventually disappear.

So it’s not that we shouldn’t engage in activity. By all means, we should be in activity all the time…the point is to control the mind and give less importance to the sense pleasures that result from such activities.

As we perform Karma Yoga and work towards becoming better people, Swamiji warned that we shouldn’t criticize others that are on the “wrong” path – it is not our place to do so. Instead, Swamiji says we should encourage them to join the crowd – engage them in action, but don’t impose it on them. Slowly, they will appreciate the benefits of our path…but it will come to them, you cannot force it.


Swami Shantananda’s Yagna – Saturday Retreat:
The Art of Making Right Choices:
Swamiji started the lecture with the statement: “Human beings are blessed with the power of choice.” When choices are given, there is always a chance that we’ll make a mistake, but with the ability to choose comes the ability to change.

What most people don’t realize is that being happy is a choice – it’s the “right” choice. The problem is, the moment we decide we want to be happy, nature challenges us. So how do we ensure make the right choices? We need the strength of the mind – we need our minds to be calm and quiet so that the right choice is clear. Swamiji says to achieve this clarity, we should practice meditation. However, one cannot meditate without first training the mind to focus.

A good way to achieve this focus is to practice chanting. It is said that continuous chanting of Bhagwan’s name brings steadiness to the mind, so we should try to do it daily (in the spiritual world, success is dependent on consistency!). Use one mantra sincerely and consistency. The purpose is to create concentration and absorption of thoughts. Our nature is to seek variety, so while chanting thoughts will appear – the key to focusing the mind is to let those thoughts go, don’t pay attention to them. Just watch the thoughts, ignore them, and they will disappear. Once our minds are steady, we can inquire about the nature of ourselves…in other words, we can meditate.

Swamiji warned though, that when we start to meditate, we will see our ugliness and weaknesses. At this point, we should not condemn ourselves. Instead, offer the negativities away to the Lord. (E.g. when we perform rituals such as sacrificing animals, we are actually sacrificing the animal tendencies in us, not the animal itself). We tend to make wrong decisions when we hold on to our egos and let emotions cover our clarity. When we offer them away, the mind can focus, clarity is achieved and the right choices are obvious.

According to Swamiji, we have only scratched the surface of our minds. The power of our mind is infinite, and the energy available to us is tremendous. Unfortunately though, our ego, selfishness and greed cause us to make the wrong choices, and get in the way of our potential for this positive energy. We can tap into the source of that energy through practice – by training the mind to focus, be calm and quiet, which in turn, will help us let go of the ego. Today’s actions will sow the future, so take care of your mind!

CHYK Toronto Blog

Welcome to our CHYK Toronto blog! We plan to post a number of different topics on this blog, but in particular we wanted to use it as a way to share insights and notes based on what we're studying in our CHYK Class (or Workshops, when possible). After each class, we plan to post the notes made by the facilitator so all could have it as reference.

Hope you find the posts interesting and beneficial! We encourage you to leave comments.

CHYK Class Notes: Art Of Manmaking - Chapters 1-6

This post covers notes from our first class of the year when we started the book Art of Manmaking. For those not aware, this text is a collection of Swami Chinmayananda's 114 talks based on the Bhagavad Gita that was featured on All India Radio, specifically addressing the youth of India.

This first instance only shows the facilitator's notes, but moving forward, we will attempt to capture other insights learned and answers received from Q&A with Swaminiji. We should be up to date with our notes on this blog soon.

Facilitator's Notes (Monika Sharma):

Individual Personalities and National Culture
Points
- Sometimes we forget the role of the individual in shaping the world around them and the collective consciousness that pervades through it
- Everyone wants to change the world, but are we willing to change ourselves?
Quotes - “Without this inward balance and readiness to act well in the world outside, how can an individual ever successfully face his own problems in life? And when each individual fails to face the challenges outside him, since the community is made up of individuals, the community will not be able to face its own or the nation’s problems” pg. 11

Standard of Living vs. Standard of Life
Points
- The materialists (scientists, politicians and economics etc) seek to raise the standard of living, the rishis seek to raise the standard of life
Quotes
- “.. draw from ourselves a larger gush of productivity to enrich the life outside and around us, and to emblazon the subjective life within us” pg. 11
- “It is obvious that the blessings of materialism can remove the agony of poverty, the sorrows of illness, the discomforts of a limited life within any underdeveloped community. But the philosophers unveil the convincing logic, that in spite of the highest standard of living that we may create for our community in the nation, man cannot yet feel happy in his ambitions, and live contented in his relationships with others, merely because he has plenty of food, clothing, shelter and all other amenities of a peaceful and efficient national life.” Pg. 2
- Man is “not merely a physical structure consisting of his body; he has a mind and and intellect. The materialistic needs of the body can satisfy only the physical man which is only a third part of an individuals; two-thirds of each individual is not taken into consideration when materialism strives to satisfy merely the basic needs in a community.” Pg. 2
Question
- Are the roles between elevating the standard of life versus living clear? Do you think there is a strong correlation between the two?

Arjuna representing the world of Youth – relevance to 21st century?
Quote
- “The Geeta addresses herself to teenagers. Their mental problems such as their nameless restlessness, impossible aspirations, unending desires, utter disillusionments, suffocating despairs, entombing dejections, and shattering confusions – nay, even their self-deluding sense of materialism in life, are all depicted in Arjuna, and Krishna’s psychological treatment for the Pandava Prince constitutes the main theme of the Bhagawad Gita” pg. 3
Questions
- Strong portrayal of a dejected, despondent youth who is unsure of his identity and duty – do you agree with its relevance to today’s youth?
- Have you ever experienced a similar situation as Arjuna, where there is was a situation that you found too challenging or difficult to face and were unsure of how to handle it?
- What makes us compromise our ideals in life?
- What are the difference between ideals and ideas?
Points - Requires a strong sense of identify, understanding of duty, clarity of vision and conviction - which requires the support of values, art of discrimination, right thinking and right contact with the world

Self-escapism during challenging or difficult situations
In relation: - Hindu philosophical thought’s born from the rishis whose haven is in the silence and quietude of the Himalayas, and yet also a misconception that the way to live Hindusim is to also retreat to these abodes. - Gita brings about opportunities to exercise its principles in motion, in contact with everyday living

Proficiency vs Efficiency
Quote:
“Where gathered knowledge adds up to form proficiency, the ability to translate that knowledge into action at the appropriate field is called efficiency.”
Education versus knowledge – education is a collection of data, knowledge is deeper – it is putting your education to use on the path of discovery
Points:
Swami Tejomayanada has noted that to be successful in life, you need:
- Work – have to work to find success
- Efficiency – the skill for performing in action in such a way that it will bear a desired fruit
- Proficiency – knowledge of the goal, the means to attain the goal the performer who is going to adopt the means to strive towards the goal

The Gita
Points - Art of fine tuning the Body, Mind and Intellect – refer to the Gita Chariot: horses represent 5 senses, reins represent our mind – to control the mind with right understanding with a ground in our basic values (sanatana dharma) - The offering to study with independent and critical outlook

Role of Religion
Quote
- “Religion is a great science, and it has a glorious utility in the world. We are not talking of the religion of ringing-the-bells or showing-thel-light. We are talking of the ‘religion’ that helps one to discover in onself a new strength and vitality to face one’s own challenges in life, and the science that provide a new inward courage of conviction to live honestly servicing others. That which provide for us such a true and masterly living in the outer world is true religion in the strictest sense of the term.” Pg. 23
Points
Role of Religion in our lives:
- Helps us to gain mastery of our lives
- Helps to gain the composure with which we can effectively meet personal and social problems
- Helps to discover new strength to face challenges
Question
- What has been your understanding or religion and what is the role that it has played in your life?