Bhagavad Gita Ch16 part 09 on 12 September 2021

Full Transcript(Not Corrected)

Om Jaranim Sharadam Devim Ramakrishnam Jagadgurum Pada Padme Tayo Shritva Pranamami Mohur Mohur Om Vasudevasutam Devam Kamsa Chanuram Ardhanam Devaki Paramanandam Krishnam Vande Jagadgurum Sarva Upanishadho Gavo Dugdha Gopalanandana Partha Vatsa Sudhir Bhokta Dugdham Geetam Ritam Maham Mukam Karoti Vachalam Pangum Langayate Girim Yath Kripathamaham Vande Paramanandam Adhavam We are discussing the Daivasara Sampad Vibhaga Yoga, 16th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita. In our last class, we had completed 13th spiritual quality called Thyaga, 14th quality called Shanti, 16th called Daya Bhuteshu, compassion towards every being. I just want to bring out one very, very important point here. So compassion, love of God and renunciation are the glories of true knowledge. That is what Sri Ramakrishna says. But there is a big problem with most of us. One of the biggest obstacles in self-manifestation, divine manifestation, is to develop an inferiority complex, to feel oppressed or depressed, to self-hate, hate ourselves, or to look down upon ourselves as worth nothing. And that is, this type of mental attitude towards ourselves is one of the worst spiritual qualities or greatest enemy of spiritual progress. So we have to, when we are asked to practice compassion towards everybody, I am also included in that everybody. If you see another person in a similar situation like yours, an inferior thinking person, he may not be inferior, nothing is inferior, then you will have to show compassion upon that person, try to encourage that person. Include yourself also in the same category and say, what? I have taken the name of God and what fear I have? This is a quotation from Sri Ramakrishna. So the practice of compassion has its own, this particular problem, which is a real obstacle in further spiritual progress. We must never compare ourselves to others. You say, everybody is a child of God, I am also a child of God. Everybody has been given something, I am also given something. So if I cannot be the tallest redwood tree, I can be the smallest plant called grass, but I will be fully manifesting my potentialities as a small grass plant. So before being compassionate towards others, we have to need to feel compassion towards ourselves also. Failure to understand this simple truth can bring much misery and delay our spiritual progress. Merciful towards others but stern towards oneself is a self-defeating attitude. To be compassionate towards oneself means, what does it mean? To admit that we are also weak, we also make mistakes. Nobody should think I am perfect. If anybody thinks that is the greatest mistake the person is committing. So the practice of compassion towards one's own self, towards ourselves, towards myself makes our life joyful and creative. And if we are not happy, because if we are not joyful, then how can we expect to make other people happy? Truly speaking, compassion means bring not only consolation, solace, but to make other people happier than what they are. If I myself am not happy, how can I make the other person happy? There is a golden law that one can give only what one has. If I have money, I can give. If I have knowledge, I can give. If I have strength, I can serve other people. But if I am happy, then only I can make others happy. If I am miserable, I make others even more miserable. Even if I use very positive words like be cheerful, be happy and all those things. So that brings us, we have discussed in fairly good detail about this compassion, Daya Bhuteshu. The next 17th spiritual quality one has to develop, Alol Uptvam, non-covetousness. What is Alol Uptvam? That is not to have any attachment towards any sense object. I am quoting this from Shankara's commentary. Vishaya Sakti should not be there. Lack of Asakti towards any sense object, even if it is the most wonderful object, that is called non-covetousness. Non-covetousness, Alol Uptvam. Covetousness is one of the deadliest sins. So the opposite of it is non-covetousness. Now to take Shankara's commentary and say that even the best object is there and Bhagawan advises us to develop this detachment. So if somebody brings fine sweet, finest sweet, Oh, I have no attachment towards it. This is called callousness. This is called stupidity, idiocity. No, I will enjoy it and what is the difference between our enjoyment and a person who is covetous, he enjoys. Is there any difference? Yes, that is where Shankara gives us this deep insight. What he says is, this example, I have enjoyed but my mind says I have no attachment. If at all I get in future, that would be fine, I will enjoy it. If I don't get, still I will enjoy it. This dependency for my happiness upon other objects, that is called covetousness. So Krishna says in this very chapter, not in this chapter but earlier chapters, that lust, anger and greed are three gateways to hell. One should assiduously try to give up lust, anger and greed. We have discussed it elaborately. Ramakrishna used to say that Maya, what is Maya? Nothing but lust and greed. In two words, Ramakrishna had summarized the entire essence of Maya. What is it? Kama and Kanchana. Kama means the desire. I want this. Without that, I will never be happy. My life has no meaning. I will be what you call, remain, live an unfulfilled life, meaningless life. Ramakrishna used to say that Maya is nothing but lust and greed. So lust means desires. And to fulfill the desires, we require instruments, money, opportunity, time, energy, everything. So that covers the entire concept of Maya. Ramakrishna further says that one who is caught in the net of Maya, which is called Kama and Kanchana, lust and greed, is called a Jeeva, a bound soul. You have the traits of a Jeeva, an embodied being. These are his traits. Lust, egotism, greed for wealth, a hankering after name and fame, all embodied beings have these traits. Spiritual life is impossible without a sound moral basis. The underlying principle of all morality is unselfishness. A man cannot be unselfish unless he is imbued with the spirit of renunciation. To renounce is not easy. The spirit of renunciation manifests in life as purity of character. This is very important. Somebody says, I have a spirit of renunciation. How do we know? It's not merely giving up something, but it must manifest in life as purity of character, as a devoted service to fellow beings and as a strong and steady aspiration for the divine. A vision of God dawns in a heart in which the spirit of renunciation and intensity of aspiration have reached their maturity. Renunciation means the giving up of lust and greed. Of these, greed is the most difficult to give up. Greed is also called avarice or covetousness. So what exactly is greed? It's an inordinate desire for more and more material possessions, including wealth, name, fame, not to speak of health and having any number of more than what one requires worldly possessions. Here is the Bible saying, And he said unto them, Take heed and beware of covetousness. For a man's life consists not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. So greed is defined by Shankaracharya as the sense organs running madly after objects of enjoyment. Intense agitation of the mind in the presence of sense objects is another manifestation of greed. Very interesting. There may be some people and they have renounce of the world, perhaps living a solitary life far away from ordinary human habitation. Maybe in Himalayas, in caves, in forests, in cohas, that is caves, etc. But when the same person after so many years, he has not seen perhaps he or she has not seen an object of temptation, but suddenly he or she comes across an object of temptation and immediately the whole mind becomes agitated. There was a popular story and this is a real story, real incident that happened. There was an old monk. He was more than 80 years old and he lived in one place for more than 50 years and he took a vow 50 years back. I will not see the face of a woman. So to avoid seeing the face of a woman, he never used to step outside, he never used to go outside his hut. Even he would not go nearer to the door. 50 years passed and his name and fame have spread everywhere. So many people seeing his intense dispassion, vairagya, they flocked there and by mouth of word, this is every word of mouth, so many earnest disciples have gathered around him. They had nothing but the highest admiration. He used to live a very simple life. Food was very simple and every day the same kind of food and naturally everybody thought he had controlled his sense organs perfectly. One day evening he was sitting there and he heard the anklets, the sound of anklets nearby and immediately his legs carried him to the door. He peeped out to see there was a woman from a nearby village. She had come to that place to collect some firewood. She was also a fairly advanced in age. That is not the point, immediately the sadhu realised. What is this? For 50 years I have not seen the face of a woman. I know what is the meaning of the sound of the anklets. Only in India generally women wear these anklets and that makes a peculiar sound and once a person has seen this, he knows whenever he hears that it is nothing but a woman passing by. So this is happening and why this person has to make his legs without even consulting him after 50 years of such practice? He went like a mad person to peep out and he said, My God, what a power of samskaras, 50 years though I have not seen and this is creating such a huge problem for me. From today onwards these legs will not carry me anywhere. He took an axe and then broke his legs. But the point is breaking the legs, it is okay. But that is not the real, real problem is not breaking the legs. Real problem is nothing but mind control. If the mind is not controlled, then there is nothing that can really happen. What a marvellous thing it is. My God, this is the power of this old samskara. That's why Shri Ramakrishna says that one has to pray constantly and be on the alert. The Desert Fathers used to say, be constantly aware of what you are doing. So greed is a terrible thing. But this greed, what happens? Even if a person is not reacting physically but his mind becomes agitated, intense agitation of the mind in the presence of sense objects is also another manifestation of greed. This intense agitation of the mind is generally not observed by outsiders. Only if one is careful, one knows. In the presence of a woman, an ascetic who is 90 years old may become very much agitated. Or a woman may be agitated in the presence of a man, vice versa. But that means the mind is disturbed in the presence of sense objects. And that's what Shankara is telling. That is also a sense I want to possess. That is why I said many times, suppose you are walking, you see a nice dress, a nice building, a nice car, a nice person. Oh, this building is nice. Indirectly what it means is I would be happier if I can possess this house, if I can get this dress, if I can get this car, etc. Such is the power of the mind. Now just imagine, supposing there is a most beautiful costly ornament and you take it to a child. As the child says, oh, it is so nice, he will never say. Because his mind is not agitated because he simply doesn't know the value of that ornament. So something gets a value only when a subject gives a definite value to that object. In South Africa, there is plenty of gold mines are there. So many times, many villages used to get from the running waters, this yellow metal and they found out very easy to melt it. They used to splash it on the outside of their huts because it doesn't have any value other than a kind of beauty patch. Why? Because if somebody is not there to appreciate it and to give it value and to buy it to be greedy for it, everything becomes valueless. A person who is living by the side of a huge lake, he will never value what is the value of clean drinking water. Similarly, a person who is having plenty of food, is overstuffed with food, such a person will never value. Only a person who is starved, only he will value. So outside, when a person desires something, then a sense object has its complete control over the mind. But some people may voluntarily refrain from enjoying it in the name of religion, spirituality, God. But the very presence of it, if it creates intense agitation in the mind, brings about a firm revolution, then that person is not free. But it is not that he becomes aware, slowly that has to be controlled. Only when a person, even if given the highest value, and then the mind doesn't even think twice about that object, even though seeing that object and knowing that it is fully valuable, such a person alone can be called a person who has acquired this special quality called aloolooptham. Greed, Sri Ramakrishna says, not only binds a man, but also makes him commit crimes. The medieval theologian Thomas Aquinas said of greed, it is a sin directly against one's neighbour. Why? Since one man cannot overabound in external riches without depriving another man of the same things. It is a sin against God, just as all mortal sins, inasmuch as man rejects things eternal for the sake of temporal things. Anything that is an obstruction for God realization, that is, the person is far from his spiritual qualities. Greed would not be so bad if it could make the greedy person happy. This is a very wonderful psychology. Supposing there is a person who is very greedy, is accumulating a lot of things, alright. But is it making you happy? Is it making that person happy? But greedy persons are seldom happy. A tragedy of greed is that often a person spends more time and energy in accumulating than in enjoying. This is a wonderful thing that we have to understand. This person's time, energy, attention and everything is spent only in acquiring more and more and more, but never has he any time for his enjoyment. A pursuit of greed leaves little time for anything else. Though we may not be aware, all of us are greedy. This is an important point. If anybody thinks, I am a little bit greedy, not much greedy, that is a terrible understatement. Every one of us are greedy. All bound source are greedy. If one were not to be greedy, he would have been freed long back. If we were not greedy, we would have been free. We live now in a society which promotes more and more accumulation all in the name of happiness, freedom and security. The whole world is competing, racing against each other. Just imagine, I will just give a small funny example, but taken from the history. Supposing somebody announces, there is what is called lot of gold. It is found in such and such a place. It may be the highest mountain and most dangerous place. Thousands, I would say lakhs, hundreds of thousands of people leave everything. This happened when the gold rush happened in America, in every place, there was no doubt about it. At no time in the history of mankind do we find so much of consumerism. In fact, modern economy cannot sustain, cannot survive without actively advertising, propagating greed and accumulation. By our very nature, we are all greedy. So why are we so greedy? That is one of the questions that comes. And the similar question is, why is our mind so restless? Why are we so greedy? The real answer only Vedanta gives, true religion gives. What is it? Because we are infinite, we will never be satisfied until we have everything which is infinite. Until that time, it is impossible for us to keep quiet. This struggle to accumulate more and more goes on. And the only thing that happens is, the more and more worldly goods we obtain keeps us more and more away from God. But a time will come, there will be a turning point. And then man says, I have wasted my life, for so many lives, accumulating things, never accommodating them, never enjoying them. Therefore, now I will search for it. That is the state which people have found out. It is so marvellous even to think of it. This is what one of the Upanishads puts it so beautifully. A man who was full pursued for so many lives, now wisdom dawned upon him. And then he closed his eyes, turned his attention inward so that he can have what we call, he can have it, the inner peace, what he understands, what I have been searching for is not to be found outside, it will be found only inside. Here is the quotation from Imitation of Christ. Human nature is greedy and finds receiving more blessed than giving. So receiving is more blessed than giving. It enjoys owning private property, but grace is generous to the poor and content with a little. It knows there is more happiness in giving than in receiving. Upanishads identify and condemn three types of greed. How many types of greed are there? Three types. For sons, wealth and enjoyment of sense objects. Uttarayshana, Pithayshana, Dharayshana. But to this can be added greed for name and fame, greed for power and greed for learning. There are many who spent all their lives trying to learn more and more, spending little time in actual practice of what they have learned. Sri Ramakrishna is saying that lust and greed is Maya, includes all the things that we discussed so far by implication. Now, what is the problem with greed? It is self-perpetuating. For the more one starts accumulating, the more one's thirst increases. Greed makes people criminals. Greedy people try to obtain things by hook or by crook. Greed also increases jealousy for greedy people cannot bear to see others having more or better things than themselves. Greed brings jealousy. One greedy man when he looks at another man who was capable of accumulating much more, was successful in accumulating more, immediately this demon called jealousy, it will spring up because he has got more things or better things than themselves. Because we all have this greediness, jealousy is a very common thing and to remove jealousy, one of the ways is to remove this greediness. Now comes the question, how can one overcome greed? Before we tackle this question, we must try to understand the psychology behind it. Why does the mind become really so greedy? There are several reasons. First, one is the natural instinct for security. We mistakenly think that the more we have, the more secure will be our life. This is called Shobhana Adhyasa. Very interesting. Adhyasa means superimposition. To mistake one object for another object, to superimpose another object on another object, this is called superimposition, in Sanskrit it is called Adhyasa. This is called Shobhana Adhyasa. For example, let me give an example. If some person who is suffering, who is poor, he thinks if I have sufficient money, all my life problems will be solved, resolved. Poor fellow doesn't know more money means it will bring only more number of problems. That is one thing. Another example is a young man thinks if I can get this young person, if I can get this person as my spouse, as my partner, then my whole life I will be in heaven. But he doesn't understand, he or she doesn't understand that it could bring in terrible consequences because every worldly object is changing and it binds and it increases the thirst for more things. This is one example. So the natural instinct we think everybody, we all want to be secure. So if I have this thing, this thing, I will be more secure. That is the first reason why we have this. Second, when we also feel that our prestige and power increases in proportion to our possessions. This is another reason. The more money we have, then more people will respect me and the more powerful. There is some truth absolutely in this. It is true. Present-day society encourages this view very much and if anybody is wise enough, common sense enough to say that I don't need, what I have is more than sufficient. So this person, the whole society falls upon him and said what you have no ambition, you have no self-confidence. Why are you doing all these things? A third reason is the belief that the more material wealth one has, the more will be our happiness. In this view, happiness is equated with abundance of things. The more happiness and the more we have, we do not understand the more troubles only will come. Our happiness will really become less and who is saying this? The famous social psychologist Eric Fromm has conclusively proved in his beautiful book and I recommend every spiritual aspirant have to go through it at least once. That is to be or to have. What does he say? That happiness depends upon what we are rather than what we have and the pursuit of happiness though too many possessions may even prove to be counterproductive. So he says happiness depends upon not what we have but what we are. So that is why I said it's a wonderful book worth pursuing. Up to some level certain things are necessary and without that life becomes really poverty stricken and entails much suffering but beyond certain points, it doesn't make any difference. Several years back Time has brought out a leading article and it is happiness and I read it and I preserved it for a long time and then what does the article say? Even ordinary people found out certain needs are there, hunger, thirst and dress and a place to live in and a normal job etc. If these things are there then a person is supposed to be normally quite sufficient. When these desires or needs are fulfilled beyond that a little an iota of happiness cannot be added to that but even these few needs also requires a special mental attitude and that is what Bhagavad Gita is indicating. Fourth, why are we so greedy? According to Vedanta, a soul becomes greedy because it is infinite. Though the soul has forgotten, it has a vague memory of its real nature. Hence it longs to regain its infinite nature and wants to feel I am infinite and won't be satisfied until it attains oneness with the infinite. This is the real reason, everything else is secondary. Now, how to overcome greed? According to Shri Ramakrishna, prayer to God is one of the very best ways of getting over greed. He advises spiritual aspirants to weep and pray to God. He says when the impurities of the mind are thus washed away, one realizes God. The mind is like a needle covered with mud and God is like a magnet. A needle cannot be united with the magnet unless it is free from the mud. Tears, repentant tears wash away the mud which is nothing but... What is the mud? Nothing but lust, anger, greed and other evil tendencies. As soon as the mud is washed away, the magnet attracts the needle. That is to say man realizes God. Only the pure in heart see God. This is a very famous quotation from the Sermon on the Mount. Blessed are the pure for they see God. Second, another way is to increase greed but direct it towards God. Ramakrishna says direct the six passions to God. Impulse of lust should be turned into the desire to behave, to have intercourse with Atma. Feel angry at those who stand in your way to God. Feel greedy for him. If you must have the feeling of I and mine, then associate it with God. Say for instance, my Rama, my Krishna. Along with sincere prayer, there are four other... There are some other habits which can help us overcome greed. The next one is one way to overcome greed is to be generous. This is called Pratipaksha Bhavana. Patanjali advocates this. Whenever we want to get rid of a bad habit, then we have to cultivate the exact opposite habit. So what is the opposite of greed? Generosity. Greed wants to get everything for oneself. Generosity says you share what you have with everybody that requires it. So generosity and greed are opposite to each other. Hence practice of generosity helps us overcome greed. The second way is to remember that life is ephemeral and death can take us away at any time. When we die, we cannot carry anything with us, not even a small blade of grass. So contemplation of death definitely helps in reducing our greediness. Sixth, however much wealth or material goods one has, one's enjoyment is absolutely limited by time, energy and capacity. Even if somebody has got, like the Queen of England, 260 rooms in the palace, one can only sleep in one bed only. Even in the same room, if you have got five beds and if you want to sleep on all of them by turns, you will lose your sleep, rest and you will get up grumbling and dissatisfied. So one's capacity for enjoyment is limited by time, energy and capacity. One can sleep in one bed only. One can ride in one car only. One can eat only what one can digest. We often forget this and suffer. If we can remember this fact, our greed is sure to become less. Then last, seventh, singular daily practice of spiritual disciplines, keeping of holy company, study of uplifting books, which include the biographies of great saints, sages, great men and above all, practice of dispassion can help us overcome this evil quality called greed or covetousness. Then the 18th quality is called mardavam, gentleness. What is mardavam? Mridritvam, softness. However, the incidents may be, which are harsh from outside. If we have to encounter people, incidents, etc. in life, which are very harsh. But this quality of sweetness is the most marvelous thing. It is said in the Mahabharata that Yudhishthira, he was given a title. It was called Ajatashatru. No enemy is born to him. Others may consider him as an enemy. Kauravas consider him as one of the, what is called, sweetest enemies, really speaking. Duryodhana, who belongs to Kaurava, he did not hate Yudhishthira as much as he hated Bhima or Karna hated Arjuna, etc. But Yudhishthira was considered nevertheless an enemy, but a sweet enemy. But truly speaking, Yudhishthira never considered Duryodhana, he is my enemy. So Jesus Christ says, Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. I know they are all your children like me, but they do not know it. So through this, they will suffer more. Please forgive them. Let them not suffer. But in the way, please grant them that inspiration, that knowledge, that wisdom, that through this, this kind of acts will only increase their unhappiness instead of increasing, it will decrease their happiness. So a Sanskrit word, Mardavam, is a beautiful word. It means gentleness, softness and sweetness. A spiritual aspirant is expected to develop these qualities. Not to speak of humans, even animals appreciate and are attracted by love, gentleness, etc. You know, when we look around, we find there are some people that whenever this person goes, even the most ferocious dog becomes very friendly towards it. I know there are some people who are so in sympathy with horses or elephants. There are two books have come out of it. I forget the names. One is definitely a horse whisperer. Another is maybe elephant whisperer. I read it. But what is this? Whenever this person goes, in fact, the person who wrote his experience about the elephants, he said for some time he was sick. So he had to go away. And then all the elephants came rushing towards the house where he was staying. And then they were ardently, longingly looking. And when this person came out and greeted them, they went mad with joy. And then a time has come, this person had to die. Then somehow they intuited this person, our friend, who helped us. It's a marvelous book. And if we read, at least our eyes will open. You speak sweetly, softly, and of course with real feeling, not artificial feeling. Then every animal, every creature, it will give up its enmity. In fact, no animal ever cherishes enmity. It is a peculiar human trait. And what about tigers killing? They don't kill out of enmity. They kill out of necessary. If they get enough food, they want to keep away far from any human beings. Generally, they don't like any human interference at all. But we know, born free, a lioness called Elsa, how it became so sweet and what is called manipulable in the hands of that lady, I think her name was Jane or something like that. So even animals understand because this is an inner communication. Gentleness, meekness, and humility are all closely allied virtues. Often gentleness, especially these days, where aggressiveness is the hallmark of a competitive person, is mistaken for weakness and spinelessness. Nowadays, people in the office, officers, when they find a worker there behaving very meekly, they will send that person on a course to assert himself. This is called self-assertion. Ego bolstering. You should never be like that. You will never come up in life. You will never be happy. As if only intense competition is the only thing that can make a person happy. No wonder so much of happiness has come down. The level of an ordinary average person's happiness nowadays is much, much less than what it used to be. Two reasons for that. One, man is not burdened to enjoy because there is something very interesting point we all have to understand. To be happy, to enjoy, we require plenty of, more than enough time and space. It is very necessary. That is one reason. Second reason is, people in the past, in general, had more faith in higher life and they believed their scriptures and they had the fear that if I do not behave properly, then I will be punished for that. And most people were not merely living in fear, but they were quite content. By daily, earnestly praying, people develop that kind of intuitiveness. There is a Sanskrit verse which says that a great man should be as soft as a flower, but as hard as a thunderbolt. A person's heart should be like thunderbolt. As far as spiritual practice is concerned, nothing will tempt him to deviate from that path. But when he finds somebody in distress, etc., that very person's heart, which could be like a hard diamond, becomes the softest petaled flower. Swami Brahmananda used to say that one should become a gentleman before one becomes spiritual. And that is absolutely true. Many devotees think that Sri Ramakrishna was always soft and gentle. Christ was soft and gentle. Buddha was soft and gentle. But Holy Mother remarked of him, I was married to a husband who never addressed me as thou, or how he treated me. Not even once did he tell me an utterly harsh word or wound my feelings. He did not strike me even with a bunch of flowers. But Ramakrishna could also be very hard when needed. When we study the events in the lives of incarnations, we find that particular quality mentioned earlier, harder than a diamond and softer than a softest flower. So when time comes, anything but gentle. Very funnily, Zen masters are supposed to be extremely harsh. It is a well-known thing when a Zen master makes his disciples early in the morning get up and sit straight, a novice master will be going with a cane in his hand and if he finds anybody's head nodding, because early in the morning he was sitting, but he was overcome by laziness, whack, comes a big blow upon him and then this fellow will be alert. When the master's whip is going, that meditation on the whip makes him concentrated, funnily. So everybody is very very soft, all the time, inside. But outside, when occasion needs, they will be harsher than anybody else. Yet their hardness is but a cover for their motherly heart and they act that way for the benefit of the devotees only. They never do it for their special purpose, but always for the welfare of the people who surrender to them. Harshness, insensitivity and lack of concentration are just the opposite of gentleness and are the signs of a selfish and worldly person. Gentleness is a great spiritual quality. Only those who are spiritual, moral and rational can afford to be gentle in this world of cutthroat competition. One can acquire the quality of gentleness only through long austerity. Shri Krishna tells us in this very Bhagavad Gita that gentleness of speech and mind is an austerity. Speech that is not offensive, truthful, pleasant, beneficial and is used for the regular reading of scriptures is called the austerity of word. Serenity of mind, gentleness, silence, self-restraint and the purity of mind are called the austerity of thought. So gentleness begins. Where does it begin? With our thoughts. So let us be very gentle in our thoughts. Never think harshly. Invariably, all our actions follow our thoughts. Generally, we all act impulsively reacting according to the situations we are in. Especially these days when we are accustomed to instant gratification we tend to become impatient at the slightest inconvenience. So it takes time and practice to develop this quality of gentleness. So it is clear that control of the mind is an essential condition requiring gentleness. Gentleness also requires us not to find fault with others. As the saying goes, air is human. Swami Brahmananda has this advice for us. Keep yourself pure and go forward following your own ideal but learn to see the good in others. If a man has some goodness, exaggerate his goodness in your mind. Give honor to all, praise all. Do this and be sympathetic for others and you will grow. He himself is honored who honors all beings. Never run down a fellow man or slight him. Everyone sees the fault in others but give him your love, make him your own and help him to overcome his weakness. A man is composed of both good and evil. It is easy to see the evil in others but a holy man is he who can overlook their evil qualities and help them to become pure and holy. Remember my children, you have come to become holy. You must always be calm, gentle, modest and kindly of speech. Goodness and purity must flow through every word you utter, every action you perform, through all your behavior and movements. The quality of gentleness also requires humility. Humility is not the mere show of outward respect but humility is the ability to see divinity in every being. Holy Mother used to say that one should respect even an insect for God dwells therein also. There was one great Swami, my predecessor in UK. He used to say gentleness is a powerful and mighty divine quality. A person who has strength can conquer another by force but conquering oneself is a gentle process. One who conquers himself is a mighty person. One who conquers by physical strength may be conquered by another who is stronger but a gentle soul can never be overcome. He is a triumphant even in defeat. A gentle person is soft, tender, loving and humble. He is calm and peaceful even under the most provoking conditions. Arrogance, pride and harshness lead only to peacelessness. Socrates was a gentle soul. Though he has been put to death, he lives with us today. So does the risen Christ. When a person starts his journey to meet his creator, he walks the path of righteousness and humility. The power of darkness cannot hurt him such as the power of gentleness. A spiritual aspirant will be gentle, good and noble. He sees the divine in everyone and everything. With gentleness, one can definitely advance both in this world and also in spiritual life. Beautiful points we have discussed with regard to what is called gentleness. Mardavam, Mridutvam. We will discuss there are another at least I think 7 qualities are there, 7 or 8 qualities. We will discuss it in our next class. Om Vasudevasudham Devam Kamsachanurmarthanam Devakee Paramanandham Krishnam Vande Jagadguru May Ramakrishna, Holy Mother and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with Bhakti.