Zitat von Vedanta am 17. Mai 2017, 9:55 Uhr

Class on Hinduism (8^th Part, 7^th continuation)
HH Shri Satyanarayana Dasa Babaji Maharaja

So is it making some sense to you, the story of Bhagavad Gita? It is very practical. It is actually something which we can use in our life, if we start seeing this in our own mind and our own attachments and our own shortcomings. Then we understand why is it that I become unhappy or why is it that I get into the same kind of loop. Sometimes, you know, in our life, we do things, and again and again, and the same things keep happening. There is a reason for that, because some program is there inside you which is forcing you to act in a particular way and then you always end up doing the same thing. Therefore, we have to introspect these things and get out of that loop. And that is only possible when we have a proper vision, a proper understanding about it. So Gita gives us the vision, gives us the knowledge to do that. It teaches us how we can rise above these attachment and hatred principles. Because, as a soul, we are free from both. These things are only in the mind. They are not inside us, the spiritual being. These things are only in the mind and they come from outside.

We have had certain experiences which gave us pleasure, we become attached to that. We have had some experience which troubled us, we dislike that. And then, these things become engrained inside our mind, and they start regulating us without us even knowing it. There is an unconscious part of the mind where things stay - that‘s why it is called unconscious mind, because we are not conscious of what is there. But it is influencing us. Bhagavad Gita is teaching us how to approach this unconscious part. We have the conscious mind where we know what thought is coming, we can see and make decisions on that. But then then there is the unconscious part which is also regulating us, although we are not aware of it. And that is the bigger part.

Even Freud has said that
unconscious mind is 90 % of the mind,
conscious mind is only 10 %.

He gave the example of an iceberg. He says, just like you see an iceberg floating on the water, but what you see outside is only one tenth, nine tenth is inside the water. So like that, we have a huge part of our mind which is unconscious and which is excercising a great power over us. We have to release ourselves from that.

The root cause of the problem
is lying in that unconscious part
which is not known to us,
we are not aware of it.

Because so many things we have experienced in this life, especially in childhood, and also in the past lifes. We don‘t remember those things. But they are not lost, they are there. Like many times, you go to the market and buy things. Then you put them in the storeroom or somewhere and for years you never use them. They are lying there, they are not lost. Like that, there are many things that are lying in our storeroom of the mind. The only difference is that the thing which is lying in your storeroom may not excercise any control on you, unless you bring it out. But these things which are lying inside, they are actually excercising control over my thought process. How may thoughts come about, they depend on that.

We have to take charge of that.
Then only we can hope to be happy.
Otherwise, this happiness remains a phantasmagoria,
because I don‘t have control over it.
If I am not a free person, how can I be happy?

That‘s why we all aim for happiness and freedom, we all want to remain free. But the real freedom is inner freedom. External freedom is OK, but it doesn‘t matter much if I am not free inside. When you have inner freedom, then you are truly free, even if you are externally a slave. Then actually, nobody can make you a slave.

There is a story of this greek philosopher, his name was Dionis - have you heard about him? He used to go around naked and he was a very beautiful person. In those days, there was the system of slavery, you could buy and sell slaves. So some people saw him wandering in the forest and they thought:

Wow!!
This guy will fetch us good money if we catch him!

There were four or five people thinking how to grab this guy and take him to the slave market and sell him. So they were circling around him because he was also strong. Meanwhile, Dionis realized that these people were up to something and asked them:

What do you want?
We want to capture you!
No problem, I am available!

[Laughing in the audience] These guys were shocked and thought: „He is not resisting in any way!“ And they further told him:

We want to sell you as a slave!
OK, let‘s go! [big laughing in the audience] Where we have to go?
So and so place ...
So let‘s walk!

They wanted to tie him up withropes and explained to him:

We have to tie you as a slave ...
No problem, you give me the rope, I will tie myself [laughing in the audience].

So they started walking with him but they were walking very slow.

Why are you guys walking so slow? Walk fast!

So he was actually walking ahead of them and they were following him. Usually, slaves should go behind you [laughing everyone]! He was going ahead, like you have a dog chained - the dog is ahead of you. Although you are thinking you are taking a dog for a walk, actually he is taking you for a walk [laughing everybody] because he is always in front.

Finally, they brought him to the slave market where there is a place where they made him to stand, with many people being around. So they put him there and one of these guys said:

We have this slave and want to sell him.
Dionis protested: You shut up! I am slave and I am here for sale. But you guys didn‘t catch me, you were not even walking fast enough. I came here by my will and I am ready to be sold, don‘t worry.

Then he started bidding himself. One rich man bought him and brought him home - these guys of course were happy. Dionis was there and he was very obedient, whatever the rich man told him, he would do it. No objections, nothing, and he had absolutely no demands - because he was a free man inside. He was completely free, for him it didn‘t matter. He was always happy. Usually, slaves are unhappy thinking: „My God, I have to do this ...“. So after one year, the owner thought:

This guy is amazing!
I cannot figure out
whether he is master or I am master.
Actually, this guy is the master and I am his slave!

[Loud laughing everybody!]. He started talking to him and realized that he was a big philosopher and finally released him: „You please go, I am sorry for ..“. and Dionis replied: „No, no, I was not troubled, I am happy. I am just wandering around. And I thought that if I could do some welfare to these guys, that they make some money, that‘s no problem for me. Anyway, I am just wandering.“ The thing is:

When you are free within,
then nobody can make you slave.
When you are not free within,
then nobody can make you free.

Even if you are a free citizen of a free country, you are still slave of your own, unconscious mind. And that will keep you troubling all the time, like a bad master. There is a saying: „Mind is a bad master, but a good servant“. So if you make your mind as a master, you are hooked for trouble. But: If you make your mind as your servant, then you are the King. Because then you can really enjoy. That is what Bhagavad Gita is teaching. Later on, Krishna makes one very nice statement, He says:

uddhared ātmanātmānaṁ nātmānam avasādayet
ātmaiva hy ātmano bandhur ātmaiva ripur ātmanaḥ

The self is to be uplifted through the mind and never to be degraded, because the mind is indeed the friend of the self as well as its enemy.

- Bhagavad Gita 6.5

Your mind is your friend and your mind is your enemy. So when your mind is not in your control, it is your enemy. And when your mind is in your control, it is your best friend. That‘s what Gita teaches and that‘s the message Krishna goes on telling. Of course, He says many other nice things, but this is one of the very important teachings He gives in the very beginning. And this is needed for every human being.

This teaching
It is not for Hindus or Indians
or for men and not for women
or anything like this.
This is for everybody.

Because everybody has this problem. And it is neither sectarian nor is it related with any religion. It is not that Christians or Muslims don‘t need this. That‘s why Bhagavad Gita is universal knowledge because it is teaching a universal principle which has nothing to do with what religion or what country or what gender you belong to, it is not dependent on that.

That is the meaning of
Absolute Knowledge.
Not being dependent on anything external.