Guru Punch!

Longing is God. It is good to be in longing. And this longing is such that it has no solution. It never fades. This thirst is such that it can never be quenched ~ Sri Sri

ARGUMENTS AND WRONG ACTION

A person who argues should not be given knowledge. An argumentative mind is not receptive to knowledge. When someone is in an argumentative mood, then giving knowledge or advice is in vain. In an argumentative mood you feel you know it all. Then you are not ready for knowledge. That is why wise people do not give advice when they are in an argumentative environment.

Argument has a purpose. It can bring out the truth if there is no emotion or sense of "I" attached to it. Argument can also have a disadvantage. It can make untruth appear to be truth.

A wise man will not take arguments seriously; he will just have fun with them. Wisdom is beyond all arguments.

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Both a worldly person and a spiritual person will tell you not to do wrong, though the reasons they give are totally different. A worldly person will tell you not to do wrong because it hurts or causes him pain. A spiritual person will tell you not to do wrong because it would only harm you more.

Exercise

Identify any one specific virtue or good quality you would like to have. Ask for it on Guru Purnima day (the full moon - July 15-16) and know that you have it.

Patanjali Yoga Sutras - Knowledge Sheet 7

Are you looking for proof? Debating within yourself? Are you hanging on to 'wrong knowledge' of how things are? You do not know how things are because the world is fluid. There is nothing solid here. Nobody is solid. Nobody’s mind is solid. No thoughts are solid. The whole world is fluid.
Anything can change any time, in any way. The whole world is filled with all sorts of possibilities. But your mind tries to fix everything — thought, people, ideas and places — into definite items or quantities. This is how it is. Your mind has set ideas of yourself, using proof, wrong knowledge or vikalpa, fantasies or fears or dwelling in the past. The four modulations of the mind plus sleep, that is another modulation.

Abhyasavairagyabhyam tannirodhaha

They can be restrained by practice or dispassion.
- Patanjali Yoga Sutra #12

How do you get over that? One can overpower this vrutti (modulation) through abhyasa (practice) and vairagya (detachment or self-centeredness).

Tatra sthithou yatnobhyasaha

Practise is that effort made to steadily be there in the seer.
- Patanjali Yoga Sutra #13

That which you do to be there is called abhyasa or practice. Abiding in the seer is abhyasa, that which you do to be right here, this moment is abhyasa. A little effort is needed to relieve you from the five modulations and just be here, now, now, now, now, now. Bringing the mind to the present and not dwelling on the past memories. That effort is called abhyasa.
You can do the following practise. Close your eyes. You are not going to dwell on any logic now. That means you are free from pramana. You are not interested in proof from anything. You just observe it. You relax. You are not interested in any wrong knowledge or right knowledge, whatever.

Often when the mind has wrong knowledge, it thinks it has the right knowledge. Retrieving the mind from knowing also (from knowledge). You are not anxious to see, smell, touch, feel, understand anything... let things be the way they are. Who cares? Right or wrong, no judgement. That means that you are freeing yourself from viparyayaya and vikalpa.
If the mind is on some imagination, fantasy, just knowing that it is imagination, fantasy is enough and it fades away. Just like when you know that you are dreaming, the dream vanishes. Then free yourself from sleep and relieve yourself from all the experiences of the past. Pleasant and unpleasant experiences are gone. The moment is free, fresh and full. Being here this moment totally is abhyasa.
The mind might try to go to the past, to smruti, or may try to go off to sleep and it can try to bring some logic and justification or some knowledge or some fantasies. Just knowing that again it is getting into the five vruttis, without aversion or craving, come back to the center, to the seer. This is abhyasa.
Next Wednesday: Learn how you can free your mind.

Guru Punch!

When you happen to be on the top, be totally humble. The more you go up, the more humble you become. Humility is the sign of success. And when there is humility then there are no obstacles. Everything keeps on happening naturally ~ Sri Sri

THE WISDOM OF SECRETS

A wise person makes no effort to conceal a secret. But he does not make an effort to reveal a secret either.

For example, you do not talk about menstruation, death, etc. to a five-year-old, but as they grow older these things are not hidden from them any more. They become known as a matter of course.
An unenlightened one tries to protect a secret; and he also reveals the secret at the wrong time, to the wrong person, in the wrong place and makes a big fuss about secrets.

Trying to protect a secret causes anxiety and discomfort.

An ignorant one is not comfortable with a secret, whether revealed or unrevealed, but the wise one is comfortable with a secret whether revealed or unrevealed!

Bhagavad Gita Chapter 1 - Verse 4

Chapter 1 -- Verse 4

Verse: atra sura mahesv-asa
bhimarjuna-sama yudhi
yuyudhano viratas ca
drupadas ca maha-rathah

Translation: Here in this army are many heroic bowmen equal in fighting to Bhima and Arjuna: great fighters like Yuyudhana, Virata and Drupada.

Guru Punch!

You know how to ride a bicycle? In the same way drive the vehicle of life! Maintain a balance in life: Do what you like to do, but also do what others like to do ~ Sri Sri