Category: Bhagwat Gita

The announcement of “Essence of Bhagvad Geeta” classes being proposed for life classes triggered multiple emotions in me. It took me down the memory lane and I just wanted to grab this opportunity to reconnect with spirituality. In my growing years , I had learnt some things about ,what Geeta says from my parents and other family members. Chanting verses , specific adhyayas and understanding the overall meaning of those was a routine for me, during my school days. Eventually I had lost the connection with Geeta and also my journey to understand the purpose of my life since I got married due to new responsibilities.

The first two days of the Geeta classes acted as anchoring me back to basics. Got some new insight, misconceptions got cleared and got affirmation for many of my previous learning.

Listing down the key points which definitely struck my conscious from each session:

Meaning of Dharma-  dharma means- “to be done” and has nothing to do with religion . It changes from time to time, place to place. Situations in life are always grey never black and white, so interpreting dharma using buddhi is our job. We need to decide, what is to be done in the situation and on what basis.

What is Right- “to be done” in any given situation?

Ahimsa:- I dont want to get hurt. I know all others around me also don’t want to get hurt. This reality and understanding about Ahimsa should drive actions- then they are bound to be the right actions. Raga and dwesha( wants) should not influence our action.

Points to be taken care of as a Parent:

• Children of 0-4. years need appreciation in formative years. They need to feel important. Its important to show your love and care as often as possible.
• Fear pain and panic get boxed in unconscious state during first four years or more and then comes out as manifestations like anger or anxiety in adulthood as response to situations. Anger is there because of background.

Points to be taken care of for self growth:

• Self growth is an inner growth and has to be deliberately initiated by us.- individual.
• Self growth – What you think about yourself, is what counts, not what others think.
• Take care of your anger and fear. These two emotions need to be taken care of. Don’t divert it as it won’t work. Advice of others and logic won’t work.
• Welcome fear. Say the fear in different way..” I welcome fear and I am not afraid of fear.”

We need to understand what we are in for, in life. Life can become celebration, once we know what we want in life. A certain approach for life is based on what we know. So we need to expand the vision of knowledge, to be able to change what is self growth.

Why is it necessary to understand Success?

• A sense of accomplishment to feel good is needed.
• Desires are privilege of a human being. One should have ambitions/ long term desires. Ichcha Shakti, Kriya Shakti- capacity to act and Gyanshakti- capacity to know help us decide and act towards desires
• Having ambition is a good way to raise an individuals self esteem.

Is there a self judgement on part of person for the sense of success?

Yes as long as we associate the sense of accomplishment with the list of fulfilled desires.

Why do we feel that we are not successful yet?

Because ..

• we want to become like someone else.
• we have umpteen no. of desires in different spheres of life.
• very few desires of all that we have, get fulfilled. List of unfulfilled desires is huge, fulfilled ones are very few.
• if sense of success is based on no. of my fulfilled desires, contentment sense of success is based on these desires.
• everyone has this list, specified or unspecified, this list keeps on changing every some years.
• as far as the sense of accomplishment is not associated with list of fulfilled desires, failure is certain..

Steps to redefine success to be happy, contended and excel towards self growth and the journey of self discovery

• Having list of desires(desires are good. expression of individuality)
• Acting on desires is good psychologically, problem is when you don’t or can’t act on it.
• When the desires are associated with other people, or involves trying to change others. In such cases just pray for that person to change, make the prayer specific – then only it is worthy, when we pray we are acting on the desire, it works. Act by praying in cases where it’s beyond your direct control, write blog, letters to open forums ,pray.. etc.. Acting on desires is very very imp else it leads to frustration.
• Acceptance of Result- Based on the Understanding of Success as defined in Geeta verse 47

Geeta Verse 47: 

Your right or your domain of control is only with reference to action. You don’t have a say/control over results of action at anytime.

You have right with respect to action but once you act, the results are taken care of , you don’t determine the result.

My Sankalpa: 

Life is a series of small situations, will try to go with “to be done” rather than getting driven by raga dwesha.

Will try not to connect peace of mind with fulfillment of desires and will try to be contended by doing the right thing rather than looking forward to the expected outcome.

In past life classes it was all about sharing with each other about the life experiences but this was different in a way that there was complete listening to the speaker. Before attending the classes I thought it would be traditional method in which the speaker will give lecture on all adhyayas of geeta but it was completely different experience. All his sessions were delivered in a logical way. He shared many real life experiences  how he moved from US to India. Chanting of different shlokas was done in sanskrit. By the end of most of the sessions we had meditation session which gave happiness and peace.

Prashada of gita classes:

• I should choose dharma rather than going with raaga devasha.
• We should not give any nourishment to our raaga devasha.
• Teaching the value of following the values.
• Life is series of small situations where one can raise his/her self esteem by selecting the dharma.
• Decoupling of happiness should be done from the situation you are connected to in order select the dharma.
• Following the karma yoga and taking the results as prashda from the altar of God.
• Dream is the manifestation of your knowledge.
• Your attitude towards any situation will act as a  shock absorber.
• You don’t have control over the result but you can definitely have a choice to select your action.
• You are only trustee of your children.Parents should only tell their children what they feel is right for them they should not force their decisions on them.
• An unfavourable situation is result of your paapa(bad karma) and a favourable situation is result of your punya(good karma).
• Paapa will be accumulated in your account by bad deeds and punaya by good deeds.
• Your whole life is based on the choices you make.
• One can raise the self esteem by doing what to be done and not getting influenced by the situations.
• If I will give pain to someone that will come back to me ,likewise happiness will come to me if I give happiness to others.
• Material and maker are one and the same which means the whole world  is made up of God.
• We should accept and acknowledge our limitations.
• The focus of your life should be on the big goal and not on the small things.

When I first got to know that ‘The essence of Bhagavad Gita’ class is going to be a part of the Life classes at our school I was not sure if I wanted to take it up. I was wondering whether it would be too heavy to attend and if I would be able to relate to it.

But then I made up my mind and decided that I will go for it. The first session itself spoke so much about how life actually is that I was sure I had taken the correct decision. Our facilitator, I realized has such immense knowledge about life and the realities of it and as he says it is not something he has learned on his own. It is a ‘Parampara’ which has been passed down from generations, from one to another, something which is very true about our culture. The best thing he said at the start of the class was that all that he is saying is his perspective and his belief. We can believe it if we wish to and not if we don’t wish to. There is nothing that we should believe just because he is saying it. However, he did back up all his sayings with some logical reasoning, evidence in life, examples etc.

The sessions taken up till now ranged from a variety of life lessons from parenting to our goals, desires, wants, needs, struggles, the right thing to do etc. Sir spoke about how one should always be like a support wall for our kids. We need to tell them what is right, what is wrong and then let them make their own decisions. They need to experience the effects of the decisions they have made so that they learn from it,  We need to just let them know that we are there if they fall.

Another such discussion we had was about Raga-Dwesha and Dharma. Raga means your binding desires, what you want to have and Dwesha means what you don’t want to have. What is Dharma? He asked. As rightly said by him, we usually think the word ‘Dharma’ means religion. However, that is not so. Dharma essentially means ‘To be done’ or ‘Our duty’. The way Sir spoke about what is Dharma and why we should do our Dharma is unexplainable. It is something we can understand only if we listen to him and try to make connections with experiences in our life. We always have a question in our minds ‘Why me?” or “Why is this happening with me?”. This he said is because of what we have done in the past. What actions have we taken in accordance with our Dharma and what actions have we taken against our Dharma. There is no human being who can say they do not have the knowledge of what is right or wrong in any given situation. We all undoubtedly have that knowledge but whether we act according to that knowledge or against it depends on us.

A few more interesting learnings from the Gita class are:

1. We need to love ourselves and help ourselves grow. Our growth is essential for us to help others.
2. Papa and Punya are the two things which lead to the kind of experiences we have.
3. We all get angry. Anger is normal. But how we react to it is something we need to think about. We must not victimize the one we are angry on.
4. Desires are something which we should have. It is not wrong to have desires.
5. We need to keep Dharma as our focus in life. We can start by practicing Dharma in small situations in daily life and then move to the bigger situations.
6. You are your own enemy and your own friend.
7. You act, the results will be taken care of by the laws.

During the sessions, I found myself introspecting my life and the situations I face in life, about the decisions I make in life, how I look at the problems in my life. I knew Bhagavad Gita does give out a lot of life lessons but never knew I could make connections with each and every lesson.

Apart from all this, these classes have definitely helped me realize the amount of wisdom the Bhagavad Gita contains in itself. We just need the right guidance to understand it and require commitment towards ourselves to apply the teachings in our life.

Last but not the least, I have learned the power of Meditation after attending these classes. A few minutes of meditation gives me time with myself, with who I am, away from all the worries and away from all the people. It leads to immense peace within me!

The first time ever in my life had picked up the book ‘Gita Saar’ for my mother in law when she was on her death bed. The pain and agony of her was unbearable. However, I decided to read this small book to her thinking that it would give her some relief by listening to those 18 verses of Gita. I mentally became strong and started with ‘Pehlo Adhaya’.

Gradually, as I was reading the versus in a way what ever I could pronounce as I had learned Sanskrit in my school days long back, I observed that my mom in law was responding to what I was reading to her. This gave me the strength to read the entire book for her.

The explanation of the same verse was given in Gujarati which helped me understand the Saar of Gita. It was really interesting and it gave me some kind of relaxation during those crucial days of my life.

Hence, the purpose for me selecting the Bhagvad Gita stands there.

It was a tool for me, infact my family members as well to resist from the mental and emotional stress that we were undergoing. Since I had read it aloud it my family members were also getting soothing effect of krishna’s saar.

“Hun tamara ma samyelo chu, mane kyan shodhvani jarror nathi”.

“Karma karo Fal ni Icchha na rakho”.

I completely believe this line because whatever karma you have done the results will be followed accordingly.

“Saara karma nu fal saru hase, ane jo tame koi vastu thi pidata haso to eno matalab ke mara kharab karma ne lidhe hun pidav chu. Aa gyan to mara sasu e mane apyu che je Gita ma varnan karyu che”.

Few of my learnings that i picked up are:

1) Karma: Perform your duties in a right way you will always get best out of it, whatever the situation comes.

2) Dharma: Doing regular puja is something which is difficult for me but learning that ‘Work is Worship’ I don’t feel guilty when I don’t do the puja in my ‘Devasthan’.
Keeping my family members happy is a best way of puja for me. Helping out someone in need is my dharma.
3) Giving advice to some one is an insult.

4) Raga means you desire to have something. Dvesha means something that you don’t desire.
5) If you have you Goals in front of you you will always try to find solution for your problems some way or other.

To conclude, being selfless in my karma and dharma is the ultimate pleasure which I gain without any pain.

Things I have learned from the Bhagwad Geeta classes:

• I got a brief idea how to chant 700 verses of Bhagwad Geeta.
• If a person is very angry, just listen to that person and let the grief come out.
• First we should understand/listen to the problem of the opposite person, he will be half satisfied and at last, give him your advice if needed.
• Dharma doesn’t mean religion it means balance sheet of paapa and punya.
• You can create your own destiny.
• You are your own enemy and your own friend.
• If you have ambition/desire, you are a healthy person. First, break your ambition into small chunks. Make daily doable goals.
• Don’t procrastinate the problem instead do the difficult one first.
• We need to be emotionally mature as behind every anger there is the pain.
• Always look good in every situation.
• Mantra has power. We can give power to the mantra by chanting it.
• All the humans are not content with their life or success because of their long unfulfilled list of desires.
• If you have desires, act upon it.
• One should not react or respond in anger.
• We need to take care of 2 emotions: FEAR and ANGER.
• Learn a lesson and be happy from your past bitter experiences.
• Just be a good support to your kids by telling them this is my view and then let them take a wise decision.
• Be happy and satisfied from inside. Don’t depend on your kids, husband or family for the happiness and contentment.
• I am a trustee and not the owner of my kids, money, house, etc. as I have not created it.
• For the high self-esteem go for (might be done) dharma.
• Invest time for yourself. If you love yourself, then only you can give love to others.
• Set your goals large then everything or situation will become small.
• No person is good or bad.
• Don’t label people.

-Megha Chhatiawala

I am thankful to Mr. Gagan Guptaji who helped us to understand Gita. So, I would like to write my reflection by giving thanks to him….

गुरुर्ब्रह्मा ग्रुरुर्विष्णुः गुरुर्देवो महेश्वरः । गुरुः साक्षात् परं ब्रह्म तस्मै श्री गुरवे नमः ॥

 ‘BHAGAVAD GITA’

It bring brightness in my eyes when I listen the word  ‘BHAGAVAD GITA CLASS’.

I was reading this holy book and I have experience that everytime when I was searching for any solution I was reading any page and connect it with my problem and get the solution. In this classes also same thing happen with me.

I brought to my knowledge that it is ‘good to be have desire’ but do not get disappointed when it is not fulfilled as it can be the learning that the way or the formula which you have used can be wrong and you can try something else and new for the same. Rather than to be disappoint you should start thinking about other way.

‘Situation can be up and down we need to be balance.’ We all know this but to manage with this, is difficult for me. I have started keeping some quotes in my mind and continuously remind me for the same. It helps me to manage with the situation. I can connect well this thing with the example given by Ankita ma’am that we need to teach our students how to be patience as every time it is not possible that the situation is in your favour.

‘Take the result as Prasada‘- it is motivating for me. As we always think negative for the situation doesn’t turned my way/as I expected. I realise that when I have connected with my experiences that whenever something bad happen I crib for that but after some time I realise that the reason for that is good. I would like to share my personal experience about it. Previously I was living in join family and very happy as all are there to take care of my kids and I was free to go anywhere but after sometime situation was not the same and due to some reasons we(my spouse and kids) have to be nuclear. At that time my mind was full of the thoughts and judgements about others and so many thoughts and reasons came to my mind. At that time my relation was spoil with my in laws. Now when my sister in law comes to me and shared her feelings with me, I feel that that is good that I am here. she get the space and close to me and we build our trust that she is comfortable to shared her thoughts and feelings with me.

‘For Ashanti you have to do so many things but for shanti you have to do nothing’

I can connect it with my life as it is true that we always crib for the things we don’t have and then says that we have problem. if we reduce our needs then there will be happiness.

‘Do not give advice, it is the insult of others intellectual’ 

listen to the person is more important to give advice. If you listen to that person he/she feels satisfaction. If you can see the ‘why’ behind any action it will be enlightening for you.

“Gita is the blueprint of your life”

Yes but it is very difficult to follow. As I am trying to control my anger I am observing that it comes more. I still doing good then the last year. As I come to know that it is an emotion but I don’t want others to be the victim of it. So I would like to take sankalp that I will take care not to hurt others by my anger. I hope Lord Krishna help me in the same. I will do my Dharma in any condition. I will think positively for any worst condition that this is good for me as it has taken all my bad karmas.

(Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Two verse 47)

It starts with the chanting of informative shlokas, which have deep intense meaning beneath it. It’s not about any religion, not any god, it’s about achieving satisfaction in life with your karmas. Karmas are our deeds, whether done in this life or previous, it affects results. Karma yoga which means taking results of our own actions. There were many key learnings to me, let me talk one by one – the first one was about acceptance, which means everything is given by the giver, take it as Prasada, the beauty of nature, the mother, father, spouse, reality of life, the situations the giver has given to you, your happiness is in your hands. It goes with another essence of it which says that let not another person, or external thoughts travel in your brain, which obstacle your happiness. Let me share more about it, there are 2 other terms called Raga and Dvesha, Raga – What I want, Dvesha- What I don’t want. Our happiness is dependent on them, it’s simple to understand if I get what my raga is, I am happy, in contrast to it, If I got my Davesha, I will never be satisfied. So, be I, me and my, let’s not depend on such external things which will affect your inner peace.To practice this we need to believe that it is coming from Ishwara, the giver, once we start believing, we will be able to manage our Raga and Dvesha and make our life easy and filled with contentment. To build it further, meditation was really helpful, which helped me to accept the people the way they are and set them free from my expectations and love the world as it is. It helps me to understand the Dharma, my responsibility, it shifted my paradigm from a religion word – Dharma to its actual meaning that Dharma says Do what might be done, now here we humans have the power and skills given by the Ishwara to decide what is to be done ( the appropriate actions, our informed choices) which decide our destiny, maybe. It also depends on paap, punya which are associated with our karmas. Mr. Gagan Gupta, our teacher mentioned about the two kinds of results driyshum and adrishyum results, which means visible and invisible results occurred which are based on our actions. He taught us the value of following the value of dharma. There are many ways which help us to debit our punya account like, watering plants, helping others, and the best way for me is ‘Prayer’. Why is prayer best? because it helps to control that situation in our life which are unwanted and which we can’t control. There were many more beautiful and informative insights by Mr. Gagan Gupta which were helpful to know and understand that we are here to perform our duties, we are sent by the creator of this Jagat just to perform as per his demands.
Overall, these 5 sessions gave me a big learning that accept every person, every moment and perform our dharma, enjoy life, help me feel contented.

Chesta Dhingra

When you are on path of Spirituality, you start having this feeling that I know so much about life and its secrets… The I know it all attitude… some how manages to creep in you…

And why not you have heard the lessons of life in so many different forms, 7 Habits, Love class, integrity class, Happiness program, you are more than qualified to state that.  Infact when  you have facilitated life classes you in fact believe that you are certified to “ advise” and share your so called proclaimed GYAN around people who come to you to share their wrath, pain, concerns, worries with you… the superior feeling engulfs, you feel that you are entitled to provide the shoulder, and you are torch whom the people around you are so privileged to have in the jungle of life…

But who knows better than I that at each and every corner, life presents to me in the form of Mahabharata…where is the maturity to identify what is right and wrong at that point of time.

So much of contradiction and hypocrisy in the behaviour, action and there is nothing authentic.

That means the knowledge which I had gained so far was shallow or maybe it required more critical thinking. PAUSE and stop and reconsider my beliefs.

There is this belief in my culture that you get things when you are prepared.

Also there is another important thing which I had heard that and did not believe, “ It is important to have Guru in your life and that you don’t look for the guru, the guru finds you”.

I believed in both but  somehow the Bhagwad Gita classes etched the belief deeper.

I may have attended, conducted workshops, but Gita class this year will stay with me for years to come, you may ask why… may be it prepared me to accept my own ancient scripture and knowledge wholeheartedly, and was it just because it was coming from a Swami ( in a typical American outfit beige pant and blue shirt), who is highly qualified, who has lived in foreign, ( because anything foreign return, is authentic), lived in an Aashram,  NO, it is coming from an accomplished Student. A student, who is on the path of service, who is helping me to see things with a lens which  helps me to magnify the instances in my life so that I can establish connection with  ancient knowledge (which Rujuta says is time tested) with clarity and courage.

I also do strongly believe that if you have done enough PUNAYAS you get a guru in your life, you get the  knowledge, only if you deserve..

My Father in law had taught this prayer to my children, “Bhagwan, Sadbudhi, apje, Sarva nu Kalyan karje, Mara thi koi nu buru nahi karava toh”.

I was wondering, how will a young child follow this prayer..and why this prayer? There are so many others to chant..

But I realised this prayers today….The very same prayers became my lessons from Gita classes.. “ Give me knowledge of Karma bhakti so that I could use in the service of others and not hurt people around me”.

Just because its in Sanskrit, I kept myself aloof from Gita, did try reading translated version but found each statement contradicting other and thought, if Lord Krishna is contradicting  each and every statement, this scripture is going to confuse me more rather than guiding me on my path.

But as rightly said “Guru bin Gyan kahase pau” you need a Guru to take you through this humongous volume of verses… which are in SANSKRIT.

Why did I opt for this class? Is it because I was already travelling on this path to know and find more answers to the burning questions I had, or was I fooling myself. One more cool workshop of life class an opportunity to proclaim myself as learned..

Well none..

Slowly and gradually over the years  after practicing medication… , sitting in silence stepping back,,taking a pause once in awhile, it had began to dawn on me..KNOWING and DOING are two different entities, its so easy to preach and advise and way difficult to implement, infact to me a Herculean task.. Why couldn’t I ? What stops me? Who stops me, to refrain my self from falling into the trap of making myself unhappy, though there is knowledge and experience?

Why Knowledge wasn’t enough to lead me to happiness? I blamed, expectation and desires for my woes. My limited knowledge suggested me to do so..

Swamiji said,  “ It’s a privilege to have desires “ it shattered  my prior saintly belief.

How can you have Moksha? When you have desires ? Again a contradiction… Well was this Gita class going to add to my confusion or remove me from the quicksand i was getting dragged into daily. “ You don’t control desires, you change the attitude to look at the results of your desires. Your response and attitude. How you are going to respond to situation and results determine your growth.”

Was thinking of  Moksha, as a subjective element, something that will happen when i die. Was wondering what should  I do that i become free, free of this life and death cycle. (Was also wondering how will I come to know if I have attained moksha) why was I fooling myself   when I had handcuffed myself with desires and results how could I at the same time  thinking of Moksha.

I was ruled by fear, Fear of having desires, and that brought anger in me, I did not have the space and the freewill to chose my action, it was being dictated.. I went out with my emotions…

Only and only when I started meditating regularly, i could create the space to come back to the center and go with my emotions but this time to return to the centre.. The buffer which Swamiji asked to create was slowly creating  space in me like a foetus…I seriously experienced that of course who Else but i was the maker and the material.. I am the conscious being.

To me service and prayers are going to act as a non rusting agent, which will help in polishing my Karmas so that my Dharma shines.

“Karma”,”Krodh”, “Dharma”, “Phal”, “Yog”, “Karma Yoga”, “Raaga”, “Dvesha”,”Samskara”, “Brahman”, “Kama” and so many words I had heard before, little did I know that they had such deeper meanings.

The Bhagvad Geeta- a holy book providing the real “gyaan” of life. It has all the secrets, facts a human needs to live in this world. We tend to forget this ancient treasure that we possess and are just striving hard to look for successful formulas to live life. It is a discourse of immense spiritual value, for people who are engaged in the daily battles of life.

All the classes so far have been mind-altering. Opening doors for me to think about things with different perspectives and also the way Guruji relates it to the world we are living, that’s amazing.

There were several things that I learnt which are as follows:

1. Prayer is a willful action and it should be specific.

2. Do actions without any expectations.

3. Don’t be attached to inaction.

4. Anger is not a freewill. You cannot control it.

5. The more you you acknowledge your limitation the more you are at ease.

6. Yoga is a blessing. Do it regularly.

7. My happiness is not going to depend on the fulfillment of Raaga and Dveshas.

8. You create your own destiny.

9. “Saamanya Dharma”- I don’t want to be hurt and you don’t want to be hurt.

10. You need to invest in your own growth.

11. You don’t hold yourself responsible for the result of your action.

12. Behind every anger is pain.

13. Life is a celebration.

14. Guru is an institution.

15. Don’t look down on yourself.

16. Reaching out action and prayer are two ways to earn Punya.

The learning which struck a cord for me was:

Geeta has 2 level areas i.e Self-Growth and Self-Discovery.”I” have been given the capacity to grow.Out of so many human beings on this planet, the humans are privileged and I should not be loosing this opportunity.

I, first need to accept myself, the way I am . As Guruji said,” Be a good friend to yourself everything else will follow.”  Being kind to yourself is very important.

And also “Do actions and results will be taken care of”. This attitude will  help maintain a positive attitude which will lead to a happy life.

It does work, like seriously it does. It’s not that I had not read about it or wasn’t aware about these things. But I guess I procrastinated in implementing the same ,the above 2 principles I have adopted in my life and I am at peace with myself.

I am delighted that I have been part of Geeta Classes-the traditional essence with modern flavour!