The Philosophy of the Bhagavadgita : 11.5. - Swami Krishnananda.
Chinmaya Mission
The spiritual camp "18 दिन 18 अध्याय," conducted by Swami Abhedananda (in-charge of CM South Africa), unfolded at the serene Chinmaya Vibhooti premises in Kolwan. From June 14th to July 1st, 2023, over 150 participants embraced this 18-day retreat, absorbing Swamiji's profound discourses. The event provided a unique chance to decipher the timeless guide for life, The Bhagavad Gita, by merging individual hearts with the Divine essence.
Swamiji inaugurated the camp on the sacred Ekadashi of June 14th, 2023, following blessings from Pranav Ganesh Bhagavan and Chinmaya Maruti Bhagavan. The camp featured four daily classes led by Swami Abhedananda, meticulously expounding one chapter of the Bhagavad Gita per day. Swamiji challenged, clarified, and redirected participants' core convictions towards the Divine, unveiling each chapter's concealed wisdom.
Post-lecture, Swamiji engaged campers in informal interactions, addressing their queries. Attendees relished the tranquil Ashram Life, enjoying comfortable accommodations and sattvic meals, all attentively arranged by the Chinmaya Vibhooti team. The attendees cherished both Swamiji's enlightening discourses and the Paduka Puja of Pujya Gurudev, accompanied by evening Aartis at Pranav Ganesh and Chinmaya Maruti temples, and contemplative walks around the picturesque Chinmaya Vibhooti estate.
The camp culminated grandly on July 1st with the completion of the 18th Chapter. Devotees expressed heartfelt gratitude to Swami Abhedananda and sought more such immersive experiences in God's love and self-knowledge. The attendees praised Chinmaya Vibhooti for organizing this awe-inspiring camp that indelibly uplifted their spirits.
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Saturday, 12 Aug 2023 06:55.
Chapter 11: The Yoga of Meditation - 5.
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Hence, there is no such thing as a wholesale initiation of the masses. We cannot shout in the streets and initiate people in thousands. Each individual case is like a patient treated by a physician. We cannot have a mass treatment of diseases by uniform injections or capsules. Each disciple, each student, is a unique item by himself, or herself, and the Guru has to pay particular attention to the condition of the mind or the stage of the disciple concerned, from the point of view of the stage in which that person is. When a serious problem arises, we cannot solve it ourselves, at least when it is apparently beyond our understanding. We cannot know the mystery of our own desires, and the obstacles in meditation are only desires which have not been fulfilled.
Now, the fulfilment of desires need not mean indulgence in satisfactions, though some of the desires have to be satisfied in that manner when it is necessary to adopt that method. But, otherwise, they are to be absorbed and melted away by other techniques which are followed in Yoga. All this is a subject one cannot read in books. They are secrets and esoteric approaches, and connected with the idiosyncrasy of the particular individual concerned.
Thus, the preparation for Yoga is, perhaps, going to take more time than the actual concentration of the mind on the chosen object. It is no use suddenly saying, “I will go for meditation.” The point is not that. What is important is: are we ready for it? Is it possible for the mind to accept it completely, or are we suppressing certain needs and demands of the mind brushing them aside in the subconscious, giving them a ‘no', when they ask? If that is the case, we have to be thrice cautious in our approach. When we succeed in understanding ourselves and the nature of our desires, fulfilled or otherwise, the mind will stand unflickering like a flame placed in an atmosphere where there is no breeze of any kind. There is no flickering.
Such an attitude, such a mood, is hard for most of us. The Bhagavadgita here tells us that we shall feel such a joy, such a satisfaction, such a delight when the mind is wholly absorbed in this manner, that even the worst sorrow of our life will not be able to shake our minds. There is no sorrow at all for us at that time. Everything will look beautiful, and we will be able to adjust ourselves with every blessed thing in life. We, at that time, become friends of all, and all become our friends. We get severed from the sources of all pain and we stand independent in a unique sense, in a superb expandedness of being, where the cause of sorrow which is the ego is overcome to the maximum extent.
But it is doubtful if everyone will be able to achieve the goal of life in one life, because of the various difficulties and weaknesses which are part and parcel of bodily existences here. Can anyone be sure that the goal of Yoga, the purpose of life, can be realised in one existence, physically? A doubt occurs to the mind: ‘Is it possible, or, perhaps, it is not for me?' Arjuna put the question to the great Teacher.
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