Commentaries by Vee Jay Attri during the Book Study – Secrets of Karma
Welcome to the session of Great Invocation. How are you all keeping? Super happy, super healthy, super strong, yes! How is the beginning of the week looking? Hope you had planned well for the week, the entire week, if not for the whole month.
We always keep reminding people: POA (Plan of Action). You need to have a proper Plan of Action at any given point in time. You know exactly what you need to do for the day, for the week ahead, for the month ahead.
That is a very very important discipline that you need to bring about, even if it is not for the month, at least for a week you need to have a very clear planning.
Unfortunately, most of the time we come across people who do not have any planning at all. They randomly keep picking up work and they keep on doing it. They are like the chicken without the head, no direction.
This is not the way we can progress. So, together with POA, another thing that we keep reminding people is PDP (Proper Definition of Purpose). If you are able to very clearly specify what is the purpose of what you are doing, suddenly, you will find there is a quantum leap in the energy that you have for any activity.
In the absence of a clear definition of purpose of your activities, you are actually not very clear in your way and consequently, the energies are not actually getting anchored powerfully the way you want it. This should become a habit.
For example, if you are tempted to say a few unpleasant words to your partner, to others, hold back. Mentally, ask yourself, ‘What is the purpose of this?’ The purpose certainly is not to provoke the person. The purpose is not basically to spoil the relationship. The purpose is not to spread disharmony.
If that is not the purpose, then, ‘Why will I say that?’ You know, small, small precautions you take in your life, can actually help you to prevent disasters. Many a times, if you look into many of the relationships issues, it always begins with petty petty issues.
You know, it is like, you keep rubbing a cloth over and over and over again in the same place. After some time, what happens, yes what happens? Yes, the cloth will be torn. Foolish people, they do not know that this is exactly what they are doing to the close people in their life.
Petty things, because of arrogance, because of pride, because of uncontrollable anger, you say things over and over again not realising that over a period of time, you are going to be a big loser. You gain nothing. You spoil your relationship, you spoil a very beautiful life. You had to certain extent harmed your own children, if you have.
It is not serving any purpose and that is exactly where restraint is important. Restraint cannot happen unless there is awareness of your activities and that is why, this should become like a habit for you. Before you say something, before you do something, proper definition of purpose!
What is the purpose of this? If the purpose of this is to improve the relationship, you would be a very different person at that very moment and then, what you say will have power coupled with some objectivity. Two important things, all the time, remember, “POA and PDP.”
Plan of Action for the week, for the month and Proper Definition of Purpose. If you are able to follow these tools, 2 simple tools, definitely, you can expect to accomplish great success and even if it is not happening, at least, you can prevent the discomfort that you are experiencing moment to moment.
So, PDP has to be defined in your thought level. What is the purpose of this thought that I am having towards that person? Useless! I am having so much of hatred, so much of anger. This anger is going to make that person worst and therefore, I don’t have to project this kind of energy towards that person.
PDP at the thought level, PDP at the speech level, PDP at the action level. Keep on monitoring what you are doing in your life. Most of the time, many people are on an auto mode. They actually have what we call conditioned reflex.
They are not even aware of the way they are reacting to many situations and therefore, they are actually a puppet in the hands of people, puppet in the hands of the so-called destiny.
Such kind of people cannot do any meaningful progress, even if they progress materially, internally, it’s huge void, emptiness, a life without any happiness, without any joy. Such kind of life is not very useful to live.
Alright, there was a very important question. I will keep addressing one question at a time and normally, I will address questions that are very simple by nature and directly applicable to our life. So, we the question was:
How can I give time to my spiritual practices when there are overwhelming responsibilities at the family level, at the level of my duty in the environment where I am serving?
Now, this is definitely a challenge, not only for you and I but for everybody on the planet but unfortunately, if you do not have a proper balance between your material and spiritual life, this is not going to lead you into any meaningful destination.
For sure, even if you become materially super successful, just take a look at the life of many so-called super successful people, celebrities included, then you will know what it means to have a proper balance in your life. So here, prioritization becomes extremely extremely important.
You need to learn to let go of things that are of lesser importance for the sake of accomplishing something mightier, something of greater impact for yourself, for the family, for the country, for the world at large.
So, years back, we narrated a very beautiful story. I do not remember the story fully. I will try to recall it as much as I can. So, it talks about a king who suddenly had a vision of God.
God appear in front of the king. You know it’s like the king Solomon, in front of whom God appeared. Then, God asks king Solomon, “Tell me what you want. I can give you the richest of the richest in all the universe.”
King Solomon said, “God I do not want anything excepting wisdom.” God said, “So be it!” So, Kind Solomon preferred wisdom to the wealthiest of the wealthiest thing in all the universe. So, our king was one such character.
God appeared in front of him. He was so happy, so intoxicated. He told God, “God, I am the king of this kingdom, I want every one of my people to see you. Please grant your vision to all the people of my kingdom. If you do that, everyone will be awakened. Everyone will illumined and the whole kingdom will vibrate with so much of joy and happiness.”
God thought for a moment, he thought, this is not actually the way divine plan works, because there is something called ‘Bhagya’. One needs to deserve, there is a divine grace that is available for special souls at special time. However, not to displease the king, God said, “Okay, no problem! I will give a vision to all of them but they have to come to the top of the mountain, I will be waiting for them at the top of the mountain.”
So, the king announced to the whole kingdom, to all his people, “My dear people, what a wonderful, golden opportunity, we are all so blessed that God appeared and he is willing to give a vision of himself to all of you but we have to climb up the mountain”.
So, the whole kingdom was so excited that God is going to appear in front of them, very excited and all started preparing to climb the mountain. The king started leading them, the king together with the queen and the minister started leading the people up the mountain.
Then, after some time, all the peoples saw glitters of copper, so many copper and copper coins everywhere along the path, somewhere small small rocks, somewhere coins. So the people said, “Wow! Such glittering copper, if I melt it, I can really make so much of money.”
So, people removed whatever clothing that they could comfortably and started filling it with copper, so much of copper and obviously now, they are carrying a huge baggage. They cannot climb up the mountain and they told the king “We are very very satisfied with this copper, we are getting back to the kingdom, you can continue.”
King said, “Come on! In front of what you are going to see, nothing in the world is of any worth. Please come, drop the copper and come with me.”
People said “No, we are very satisfied with the copper”. After some time, few more people started climbing up the mountain and then, next level, they started seeing silver, so many silver that nobody never had seen, some are in the form of blocks, some are in the form of bricks and stones.
So happy, the people started picking hurriedly, whatever they could and then, they started piling up all the silver in the cloth, as much as they can. Again, they cannot move up, they told the king, “We are so blessed to have so much of silver with us. Please, we will get back to our kingdom, you may proceed.”
The king again reminded them that in front of what you are going to see, nothing of the world is of any value, come on, drop the silver and come with me.” The people said, “No, no no, my dear king, our life is so blessed now. We don’t want to leave this opportunity.”
Then, all of them got down and few of the people again followed the king. Next level, now the people were exposed to gold, so many gold, everywhere. Gold, gold, gold! Now, what do you think the people would do? They did not mind stripping themselves fully and they picked up everything that their cloth can accommodate and now, so much of gold in the cloth, they cannot obviously, climb up the mountain.
They told the king, “Thank you for giving us an opportunity to accumulate so much of wealth, we are getting down. Namaste!”. The king again tried to cajole them, “Please come up. What you are going to witness is the most precious wealth in all the universe. Drop the gold.”
But no, the people would not listen and they got down. After some time, what do you expect the next layer to have? Of course, diamond! Now, the few people who are with the king could not resist this temptation.
You know in the Holy Bible, there is a very important quote that is actually the part of the Lord’s Prayer:
“Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil”
Matthew 6:13
Evil is not only the urge for sex. Evil is also any excessive desire.
So, the people were so much happy, to pick up as many diamond stones as possible, and then, again, they said “King, we are so satisfied with our life. We have become the wealthiest of the wealthiest, we do not now need anything more than this. We are getting down. King again tried to persuade them, but no, they would not listen.
Finally, the king’s wife and the minister were left and they climb to the top of the mountain. God was waiting for them and God gave the vision to the three of them, the three blessed souls. At least, the minister and the Queen were not tempted. That’s the good news.
That’s exactly is about prioritizing, there are so many things which are so good to do but among them you have to choose the more right. We talked about it a few days. There is a difference between doing the right and more right.
So, between the right and the more right, the disciple chooses the more right. So, you cannot have the cake and eat it too. Somewhere down the line, you have to be willing to do some sacrifices here and there.
For example, sitting in front of the television for the most cherished program is not as worthy as you spending the same time in reading some quality books. You the soul, you need spiritual food to progress, to evolve.
Every other thing is only giving you a temporary relaxation, but after that is over, you are still left with the same level of energy which you had before and if you are watching anything negative, your energy is already depleted and that is why, prioritizing between the right and the more right and that is so important.
Hope I was able to give you a glimpse of what you need to do. We have very little time before we begin the Great Invocation. Doesn’t matter. Something useful comes sometimes and I sincerely hope it is benefitting all of you.
So, we were reading about Karma and Varna-Dharma. So, you will notice that the four tier system from the Vedic period about the Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaisya and Shudra. The four tier classifications are actually based on the requirement of a proper functioning of the society. Nothing more than that.
So, given that the artisans or the labour class had certain special traits because everybody comes with a particular package. Remember, it is not about the role that you are playing, it is about what you are gaining spiritually and the lessons that you are acquiring from whatever role that you are expected to play.
And the moment you commit yourself to play the role that you have been assigned with 100% devotion, one after the other, opportunities will come on your path, helping you to progressively evolve. So, it is not about what you are doing. It is about what you have to learn. That should be very clear in your mind.
So, the four tier system has got nothing to do with any religious belief. It is beyond religion. It is simply to help a society to function properly.
Moreover ‘Varna’ is what you have acquired and not what you have inherited at birth.
For example, if you are into politics, then regardless of your ‘Varna’ at birth, you are born of the Kshatriya-Dharma of taking care of the people’s wellbeing by sacrificing your own needs.
The episode in the Mahabharata about Yudhisthira’s firm, unshakeable commitment to uphold Dharma is a classic example of this.
This story, I am going to read tomorrow.
Further reading: Secrets of Karma, Page 116-117