Bhagavad Gita | The Essence of Vedanta

Chapter 3 Verses 1,2,3. The lecture was given by Swami Tattwamayananda on October 11, 2019. -First and second chapters of Gita provide background on this entire spiritual classic. 55th through 72nd verses of 2nd chapter of Gita discuss the characteristics of an enlightened person. -Second chapter concludes with: “In this state of Brahmi-Sthithi, one becomes fully established in Brahman, attains on...

Chapter 2 Verses 71-72. The lecture was given by Swami Tattwamayananda on September 27, 2019. -55th through 72nd verses of 2nd chapter of Gita discuss the characteristics of an enlightened person, how he deals with this world and how he is different from someone who is not enlightened. -72nd verse: In the midst of being engaged in daily activities, he is able to connect with something higher than...

Chapter 2 Verses 69-70. The lecture was given by Swami Tattwamayananda on September 20, 2019. -The central topics of the second chapter recapitulated -Spiritual light and spiritual darkness in our life -Reference to `Hitopadesha’ on the vagaries of life, recipe for disaster in life -यौवनं धनसम्पत्तिः प्रभुत्वमविवेकिता एकैकमप्यनर्थाय किमु यत्र चतुष्टयं -A person who possesses youth, wealth, power o...

Verses: 18.73, 2.54, 4.1, 4.2, 2.55, 2.48, 2.50, 4.18 -The Bhagavad Gita is a conversation between two great men of action. In verse 18.73, Arjuna has had his conflicts resolved. -We must win the battle within between the senses and the spirit. When we win the battle, we assert our true nature. -A sthitaprajna has had the real experience of Atman. In verse 2.54, Arjuna asks for the characteristics...

Chapter 2 Verses 66-69. The lecture was given by Swami Tattwamayananda on June 28, 2019. -going beyond the tyranny of the senses and the sense-objects -how to be in peace with ourselves -the quest for tranquility of mind [prasada प्रसाद:] -going beyond infatuation/ fascination and aversion: keeping the senses under restraint: way to perfect tranquility of mind -Shankaracharya on प्रसाद: -“प्रसाद:...

Chapter 2 Verses 64 - 65. The lecture was given by Swami Tattwamayananda on June 21, 2019. -The path to inner peace and freedom -प्रसाद:(Inner peace and tranquility) and प्रमाद: (delusion / ignorance) discussed -The four inner disciplines to obtain inner tranquility and stability of mind -Beyond attraction, aversion, and sorrows -Shama and Dama further elaborated -Two types of purification: the ph...

Chapter 2 Verses 60 – 63. The lecture was given by Swami Tattwamayananda on June 14, 2019. - The mind: our master or our slave? - Why does the mind revolt? - When does our mind become our friend? - Can we program our mind? - Why we cannot program our mind. - We cannot disown our accumulated impressions and samskaras. - The problem of fragmentation of the mind. - The pull of the sense-objects, the...

Chapter 2 Verses 57-59. The lecture was given by Swami Tattwamayananda on June 7, 2019. -The Absolute ('Paramarthika) and the Relative ('Vyavaharika'): -Their practical implication in daily life. -The need for setting new priorities in life. -For a स्थितप्रज्ञ: 'Buddhi' is free from all entanglements of mind (verse:55). -How, in the case of a स्थितप्रज्ञ:, mind reacts differently to the different...

Chapter 2 Verses 54-56. The lecture was given by Swami Tattwamayananda on May 31, 2019. - Characteristics of an illumined saint (स्थितप्रज्ञ:): - The qualities of a spiritually enlightened person (स्थितप्रज्ञ:) should serve as an ideal for the aspirant. - Spiritual awakening does not make you insensitive to the problems of others. - A spiritual man is not shaken by adversities and reverses. - He i...

Chapter 2 Verses 49-54. The lecture was given by Swami Tattwamayananda on May 17, 2019. - Why does the mind refuse to cooperate? - The need for freedom from anxiety and worry - Extraordinary mental powers without a spiritual ideal conceal within them the seed of trouble - Great skills need a spiritual ideal to guide them - How do we develop spiritual characteristics? - The quest for real and lasti...

Chapter 2 Verses 46-48. The lecture was given by Swami Tattwamayananda on May 10, 2019. -'Brahmana' ideal: its universality -Ethical and spiritual implications (verse 46). -Shankara, Ramanuja and Madhwa on the 'Brahmana ideal'. -Buddha on the ideal 'Brahmana' -Our actions and their results: their unpredictability (verse 47). -We cannot predict how our mind will work, the way we can predict how a m...

Chapter 2 Verses 45 - 47 The lecture was given by Swami Tattwamayananda on May 3, 2019. The evolution of the three gunas: -Tamoguna to Rajoguna to Sattvaguna -Karma-yoga in contrast to the karma-marga of the Mimamsaka philosophers -The importance of mental attitude in karma-yoga in contrast to the Mimamsaka’s insistence on the letter of the law and Arjuna's fascination for the latter -Sri Krishna...

Chapter 2 Verses 41 - 44 The lecture was given by Swami Tattwamayananda on April 19, 2019. - Swadharma harmonizes the secular and the spiritual. We are able to do even our secular duties in a spiritual way. - Swadharma is the creative utilization of human energy resources. - Swadharma saves us from the tyranny of ultra-pragmatism. - It guards us against our natural obsession with short-term goals....

Chapter 2 Verse 39 - 40 The lecture was given by Swami Tattwamayananda on April 12, 2019. -While Swadharma is natural, effortless, inherent and our own, Para-dharma is artificial, alien and false. -Swadharma and avoiding bitterness -Swadharma and conservation of energy and facing the conflict of propriety -Swadharma: an antidote for fragmentation of mind and loss of mental energy -Swadharma as 'Ya...

Chapter 2 Verse 31 - 38 The lecture was given by Swami Tattwamayananda on April 5, 2019. -Swadharma: natural and spontaneous -An antidote for our perverse notions of freedom and passion for the rationally indefensible -Description of a perverse tendency for self-deception and untruthfulness and its cascading consequences (with a courtroom illustration) -References to Dostoevsky's 'Notes From the U...

Chapter 2 Verse 31 The lecture was given by Swami Tattwamayananda on March 29, 2019. The Bhagavad Gita presents a high ideal on inner spiritual transformation through the practice of Swadharma. The important teachings of the second chapter are: 1) The Atman is deathless, unchanging, immortal and eternal. 2) The body is transient. 3) The ideal of Swadharma. 4) The characteristics of a Sthitaprajna...

Chapter 2 Verse 22 – 30 The lecture was given by Swami Tattwamayananda on March 22, 2019. The mystery of life and death. The problem of mindless activism and obsession with success. Diverting the mind into spiritually healthy channels. This body is ephemeral, but the soul (Atman) is eternal and immortal. Feeding our mind with good samskaras through noble actions and noble thoughts.

Chapter 2 Verse 21 - 22 The lecture was given by Swami Tattwamayananda on March 15, 2019. The laws of Karma and rebirth are explained. We are born with a whole lot of accumulated karmas and their results, a bundle or inheritance of samskaras. Life Continues Even after Death of the Physical Body; Death is a Comma, not a Full Stop.

Chapter 2 Verse 17 - 20 The lecture was given by Swami Tattwamayananda on March 01, 2019. - Emerson's poem 'Brahma' - The Bhagavad Gita: Second Chapter, Verse 19 and the fourth stanza of 'Brahma'. - We are not the perishable body, the changing senses, the wavering mind or the unstable intellect. We are the immanent, omnipresent and transcendental Atman. - The practical benefit of this realization:...

Chapter 2 Verse 14 -16 The lecture was given by Swami Tattwamayananda on February 22, 2019. - The nature of Reality in Vedanta - The creation is One. - You are immortal. - Remedy for depression - The five gateways of secular knowledge and sense-perception - Sublimation and evolution of our ego and diverting our mind into healthy channels. - Psychology of real happiness - The danger of seeking perp...

Chapter 2 Verse 11 - 13 The lecture was given by Swami Tattwamayananda on February 15, 2019. - You were never non-existent. You will never cease to be. You are eternal. - Atman: our timeless transcendental dimension - The secular merges in the spiritual. - Spiritual food is needed for a healthy mind. - Swadharma: resolving our inner conflicts - No separation between the spiritual and the secular

Chapter 2 Verse 11 The lecture was given by Swami Tattwamayananda on February 08, 2019. - Existence is One. - Seeing God everywhere, all the time, in every action, outside the place of worship - You are eternal: going beyond the physical, psychological and intellectual - Spirituality beyond the rituals. - Introduction continues - Dhyana-slokas - Message of the Gita - Humanity is One Spiritual Fami...

The lecture was given by Swami Tattwamayananda on February 01, 2019. -Emerson: an example of the universal appeal of the Bhagavad Gita. -Sir Warren Hastings's introduction to the first English translation Bhagavad Gita is referred to. -Lord Krishna answers the questions every refined, cultured, human being would ask. -Our quest for contentment: Psychology of spiritual contentment -Problems of succ...