Equanimity In Action: The Bhagavad Gita, Ch2, Verse 48

What if we relaxed into the process of simply doing the work that's in front of us? This week, we will be diving into Chapter 2, verse 48. In these weekly lectures, we focus on specific ancient teachings that we can all apply to our day-to-day lives and personal spiritual journey!

Transcript

We are studying the Bhagavad Gita. This in particular is Stephen Mitchell's version. But I recommend using any version that you like. Some are more literal than others. Some are more. Have more of a religious taste to them? Stephen Mitchell tends to create a version that makes a lot of sense to the Western mind, And he puts it in a. . . Poetic form. Just allows us to flow with it. But I will read other versions of the verse we're working on, Because different versions share different aspects of the verse too. This is a dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna. Within ourselves, Arjuna is like our personality, Our day-to-day self. And Krishna is our Divine Self. That is always within us, Always guiding us. You can also imagine that Arjuna is us as a person. And Krishna is an external God. Out there. That guides you. Helps you and holds you. It doesn't matter, However you understand. The relationship between the divine and the human. It's all good. Last week. We begin a new beginning. Topic. In the Gita. So last week we read. You have a right to your actions. But never your actions' fruits. Act for the action's sake. And do not be attached to inaction. This week, We're looking at Chapter 2. Verse 48. And incest. Self-possessed, Resolute. Act without any thoughts of results. Open to success or failure. This equanimity. Is yoga. Self-possessed. Resolute. Act without any thoughts of results. Open to success or failure. This equanimity. Is yoga. What comes to you when you hear that? How does your mind interpret that? Or what stands out for you. Non-attachment to outcome. Please repeat. One more time. I'll tell you when. Let's jump over. And let's listen to some other versions of it, And then I'll go back to that one. So this is Paramahansa Yogananda's version. And he tends to be. Yeah, It's a bit fancy, But. Oh Arjuna! Remaining immersed in yoga. Perform all actions. Forsaking attachment to their fruits. Being indifferent to success and failure. This mental evenness is termed yoga. And the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. His interpretation is. . . Established in yoga. O winner of wealth. Perform actions having abandoned attachment. And having become balanced in success and failure. For balance of mind. Is called yoga. And then back to our beginning. Self-possessed, Resolute. Act without any thoughts of results. Open to success or failure. This equanimity. Is yoga. Reminds me of the Sutras 1. 1 to 1. 3. Yoga equals equanimity. Mm-hmm. Two words, Non-judgment and liberty. Inner balance. Balance of mind. It's building on last week's principle. Do what you're doing for the sake of it alone, Unattached to the outcome. Balance of mind is yoga. Without attachment. That all experiences hold value. Yes. No attachment to the action or the end result. Trust your connection to the divine. Let yourself be yoked and know that you will be fine. To let go of fear, To surrender. It's wild how all the previous sutras, All the previous verses are building to this. They've talked about releasing yes and no and surrendering and letting go and knowing that you are God and all that. You know we've been talking a lot about those in last in past talks. What does yoga mean in the Gita, The same yoga that we understand? Brilliant segue. Thank you. Hmm. So in the West, We often equate yoga with asana, Postures. We even say that if someone is very flexible, Or they can do balancing postures. They are a great yogi. Which is very curious. Because when you think of how yoga has been passed down for thousands of years. Never once. Is it linked to being flexible? Or acrobatics. Or able to do things in a physical way. It's never, Never been that way. And this doesn't take away from the potential healing of asana practice. Or the joy of a beautiful Chagatah group. Class. There are really, Really beautiful benefits there. But often what those are, Those are like the gateway. Into a much deeper experience in life. And I think it's necessary. We live in a really strange world. Full of. Really insane expectations that have nothing to do with happiness or joy or inner peace. And so attending a class where you do interesting postures that you have to focus in the body, And you have to breathe deeply and you're surrounded by other people with similar intentions and you're listening to beautiful yoga music. That's very healing. But even that practice can go deeper. If we understand the true meaning of yoga. And the true meaning of yoga. And again, The language is funny, Right? I'm going to say a sentence. But even that sentence can be applied in a thousand ways. So in the Gita, Yoga, Actually has many meanings. In this context, It is the balance of mind. Equanimity. Equanimity means staying stable no matter what's going on. So even in hardship, You still have a calm mind. In great joy you have a calm mind. The other aspect of balance is that we are fully balanced in our physical lives. In our day-to-day world, In our expectations, Our relationships, Our jobs, Our money, Our kids, Our parents, Everything. Equally balanced there. With our divine. Equally balanced between our inner creative spirit and our outer world of action. So imagine that that's really the goal of yoga. Is to find a balance between the outside world and our inside world. And when we find that balance, We develop equanimity. We develop this evenness of mind. So why is that? The Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, He begins his interpretation with, Established in yoga. Perform actions having abandoned attachment. And what he defines established in yoga He defines that. As cosmic consciousness. So what does it feel like inside of you? To have cosmic consciousness. I'd love to know what does that feel like inside of you. To have cosmic consciousness. As above so below. Higher awareness. Connected to everything and no attachment. A link to my higher self. Peaceful and free. Connected deeply to a high frequency. Connection with the universe. One with all. Relating more to the soul than to the ego. Presence. An expansive and clear container to exist in. Unknowing. So if we hold this, Whatever it means to you, Whatever that means. Now imagine. Something challenging. Is before you. A painful thing has happened. Some a fear has risen. When we don't have cosmic consciousness, What happens? We freak out, We worry, We might take action impulsively. Because we're afraid, We're worried, We're triggered, Our amygdala has gone off, Our frontal cortex is offline. We're just like, Ah! We're fighting exactly, We're like, And it's survival. It's not like a character flaw it's it's it's ah Now imagine. We develop our cosmic consciousness. So now. This difficult thing has come. I have also cosmic consciousness. So that difficult thing has happened. And I initially have that emotional response that tells me how I feel about it. I'm afraid, I'm worried, I'm angry, I'm something. But because I have this cosmic consciousness. The cosmos is everything. It's not just the good. Or the uplifting. Or the pleasurable. It's everything. It's life, It's death, It's change, It's cruelty, It's kindness, It's everything. Cosmic Consciousness is not being connected to the highest good. It's being connected to the all. The oneness. And as we develop that, Suddenly, The difficult things in life they don't become less difficult. But they have a place to fit in our consciousness. Because it suddenly If I have a consciousness that I only want pleasure, I only want things to go my way, I only want success, And the right life is just simply that everything goes my way all the time. Well, That's not cosmic consciousness. That's kind of similar to what Geneva said. It's just the ego versus the soul. The soul is here for an experience. And we have all the experiences. The happy experiences, The very sad, The grief, The pain. The joyful, The ambitious, All of it. That's what the soul experiences. So when we deeply connect with our soul, It's like it gives the hard times context. And then this starts to lead towards that evenness of spirit, That evenness of our mind. And it doesn't mean we don't have an emotional response. Emotions are important. But we aren't driven by our emotions. I want to read you, Swami Vivekananda says, True strength lies not in emotion. But in restraint. To remain calm in the midst of extreme activity. To be the eye of the hurricane. Is the hallmark. Of a true yogi. Sri Aurobindo said, Equanimity. Is not a passive indifference. Or stoic coldness. But an active, Joyous equality of the soul. That accepts all experiences as divine material for growth. I love that. Equanimity is not passive indifference or stoic coldness. But an active, Joyous equality of the soul. That accepts all experiences as divine material for growth. Egocentric, Ethnocentric, World-centric, Cosmocentric is what I understand our development process. Ah, I see. Well, Yeah, And the cool thing, Again, Is cosmocentric. Simply means that we, It's like a. . . It's a maturity. As we get older. We start to realize that life doesn't go the way we planned. We just know that. And with every year. You're not quite as surprised. When hard things happen. And life becomes more about. Rolling with it. Sri Aurobindo, Who Debu just mentioned, That's who the last quote was from. I don't think he has a version of the Gita. I don't know if he does, But it was his perspective on this verse. That was what he thought about this verse, Or one of the teachings he had. So I'm not sure if he has a version of it. You learn to roll with the punches and go with the flow. Exactly, But with a cosmic perspective. The punches aren't bad. They're just part of life. You know, I have this beautiful painting behind me of my friend. And I shared some of this with you guys in past weeks. That the journey from when she passed. Till today. I lost a lot of sleep over various things that were happening with her work. And I had to come at odds with family members and it was really, Really hard. But I'll tell you today. I am so thankful for how everything has turned out. It's better than it ever could have been in my imagination. The quote before that was Swami Vivekananda. And again, That was his perspective on this particular verse. I don't know if he had a version of the Gita himself. And so. People asked, You know. How do we find this evenness of mind, This equanimity? One of the teachings actually of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi on this was that it's like learning to swim. If you want to learn how to swim. It's actually very helpful to learn how to dive. How to swim in deep water. Which seems funny, Right? You think, No, No, No, I just want to swim on the surface. But then what happens when you swim on the surface? And nothing, Nothing, There's nothing wrong with swimming on the surface. You don't necessarily build the confidence because you're just sort of trying to stay afloat. You're trying to stay above water. You're trying to breathe. You're trying to, And you're afraid you're not going to be able to breathe, Right? There's sort of this flailing on the surface. But what if someone said, Dive in the water and swim underwater and then come up. Okay, I can hold my breath. And so you dive under the water and you're deep under the water and you're kind of swimming. And then you come up. And you're like. I can swim in deep water. I'm going to try that again. And then suddenly you swim down again. And you keep swimming down and you're like. I can swim in deep water. And then all of a sudden. . . Swimming on the surface isn't quite so hard. Because we're not afraid. Of the deep water. So there's two really big teachings around that idea. One. When we start to recognize that difficulties are actually part of life and not like a, Oh, Well, You know, Life, It sucks. It's not like that. It's just part of life. It's just. Just like red is also a color. And even if green's your favorite color, Red's a color, Blue's a color. Hard things happen. Good things happen. Or just life. As soon as you can. Kind of dive into the difficulties. Because very often, When difficulties come, We contract. What if instead of contracting when difficulties come, That we expand. That we make ourselves bigger. And this is a teaching that was given to me. By a wonderful woman in Toronto, Tracy Clark years ago. And she said, Whatever you do, When it gets hard, Do not contract, Expand. And that has been a mantra in my mind. For so long. So then all of a sudden, What happens? That every time something difficult comes your way, There's an initial contraction with that painful emotion. And then in your mind you say, Let's breathe and expand to become big enough to handle this. Bye. And then what happens is solutions start to appear. Alternatives start to appear. Options start to show up. And we deal with it. And then, You know, Three months later, Something difficult happens. But you're so used to now succeeding in the depths, You're like, Okay. Okay. I can handle this. And this is a development of self. The other things that Swami Vivekananda and Sri Aurobindo said was that this is the journey of spiritual transformation. That's what it is. It's not just, Isn't that cool? This is the journey that changes us. That's exactly how I learned to swim at six. I saw people swimming, Thought I could do it, And I jumped off a high diving board. Ah, What a metaphor for life. Let's analyze Goddess Mo later. Me too, By the way. I tend to be a dive off the high diver. So that's one way of looking at the diving perspective. But the other way. One of the big teachings that they have around this particular sutra. Is the importance of meditation. The practice of meditation. Is what helps us develop. Our debt. There's the outer world. How do we develop the depths? But how do we develop the inner world's depths? And one of the primary teaching is meditation. And it can just be sitting right here where we are right now, Closing our eyes. And just taking some time for ourselves. No music, No words, No thoughts, And just breathing. And that's hard. Because we're so addicted to action or we're so accustomed to action, It's probably better. And so the idea of withdrawing from the action of the world. And allowing the quiet of our inner mind It takes practice. So this is where the, When they call it meditation practice, It is so important. But the point of it isn't to become good at meditating. The point of it is to deepen our consciousness. And allow us to be more comfortable. With the quiet inside. You know something funny? I originally was a mathematician. I got a math degree. 100 years ago. No, Just 35 years ago. The interesting thing about math. . . Is that zero is kind of the same as infinity. And not that I want to get into some weird mathematical things. If you take zero. You can. Cut it up into a million zeros. Just don't worry about this math-y thing that I'm going to say. But what's interesting is, The reason I'm saying this, Let's just imagine I'm right. Because even in mathematics, This is very philosophical. So now imagine that in yoga, The void. Is also everything. The quieter we can become inside. The more connected we are. To everything. So when we meditate, Releasing our thoughts and allowing us to connect with the nothingness inside. Actually connects us with the divine. So they really, Really recommend that. So even for anybody here. So zero is the symbol of nothing, The void. Exactly. Zero and infinity are both Indescribable. Aspects used in mathematics but they're kind of the same thing. They're almost like. . . Two ends of the circle that meet or something. Is 8 infinity. Not that I know of. So now imagine this. So imagine. We regularly Do a deep dive in meditation. And so getting away from the outside world, Diving deep. And realizing that, You know that whole, I can do hard things, Which is also an amazing mantra to have in your mind. I can do hard things. I can do hard things. So important mantra. There are a lot of affirmations I love, But that's one of them. When we develop that inner quiet. This also helps us inform our day-to-day life. So what are the challenges of sitting in silent meditation? The mind is like. . . To trying to engage with us, Trying to get us emotionally aware, Trying to get us whatever. That's just like life. That's just like the news and Facebook and whoever wants to talk to you next and whoever wants your attention next. It's like the inner and the outer are the same. So imagine you're meditating. And you're not fighting against your own thoughts. You're simply letting the chatter of the world go. Which is simply showing up as the chatter of your mind. And you're gonna breathe deeply. Connect with your body. Connect with the breath. Just totally relax. Maybe focus at your third eye point. Deeply breathing. And you do that for one minute, One day. And then maybe the next day you try it for two minutes. And you keep diving a little bit deeper and a little bit deeper. Some days are harder than others. Some days are easy. You discover that it's easier to do in the morning. But it's harder to do at night. It's hard to have a quiet mind. But isn't this the same as life? That if a challenge comes to you at the beginning of the day, It's often easier to have a quiet mind about it. Whereas if someone comes to you at five o'clock with an issue at the end of a busy day, You know it's much harder to keep that equanimity, That even mind. It's all the same. But again, We're just watching. We're learning about our thoughts. We're learning about being human. We're watching all of this going interesting. So the practice of meditation, Of silent meditation or mantra, Something inner, Not external. Guided meditations are also lovely, But they have a different purpose. Once you're ready to do it on your own, To even just take three minutes every day to sit and just focus on your breath. Breathe deeply and allow yourself to go in. And slowly release whatever thoughts are there. There's another part of this that I do want to talk about also. I'm going to, Which one do I want to read? Self-possessed. Resolute. Act without any thoughts of results open to success or failure. This is the equanimity of yoga. So what are the other teachings about this? Is. To act. From a place. Of being self-resolute. From being. Of calm mind. I know this is really interesting because think about how often in our days we say, Okay, I'm going to relax as soon as I get this project done. I'm going to relax as soon as I get the kids to bed, As soon as I get the house clean. As soon as I'm off work. As soon as I'm on vacation. As soon as I finish my doctor's appointment. Whatever it is, Then I'm gonna relax. But right now, I'm gonna be stressed out. Right now, I'm going to be in this state, But as soon as I'm done all these things. Then. I will relax. And what this is saying is. Act from a place of being relaxed. Choose that state now. So imagine all these different scenarios. So. You know, You've got a pile of projects ahead today. So you could think, You know what, I'm going to come into that quiet, Even, Relaxed state as soon as I'm done. But in the meantime, I'm going to be stressed out. They're saying. Come into the relaxed, Even-minded state right now. And do your project. If you're stressed out about going to the doctor's office. And you think you'll relax once you know or once you find out. Relax now. And go to the doctor's office. If you're not sure what to do about that difficult situation. And you think, Well, If I could just figure out the right answer, Then I'll be able to relax. Can we just relax first? And then great solutions happen. I love the way he says, Self-possessed. To act from a place of being self-possessed. And of course, Self is capitalized. Living from your soul's place. Always. Let's say you have a big project to do. You know, You have a great big project to do. You can do it from an ego difficulty ridden space. Or we can close our eyes, Take a deep breath in, Exhale and say. Well, This will be fun for my soul. What an experience this is. Like today, I have this big project in my online platform where I have my email lists and all my courses and that everything runs. I've discovered that people have been unsubscribing to my email list. But they're regular. Students, They come all the time. And they message me and they say, How come I'm not getting any emails? Anyway, I've been contacting back and forth with the people on the platform and they're like, Oh no, They're doing it. They're doing it. Find out they're not. It's actually a glitch between my platform and their email provider that there's bots that are actually scanning the emails and unsubscribing them without them even knowing. And so I have this big project today. To actually go into the platform and create all of this background stuff, All this techie stuff, So that that can't happen anymore because it's not built into the program. It's a looming task, But it's a big task for my brain to sit down and actually sort out how to do this. I have a couple choices. I can go into it with all kinds of, Like, Darn it, This should be part of the program. How come I have to do it? Or, Ah, I hope this works. Or, I can't believe all these people have been missing all my emails. I could go in like that. Or. . . I can think. Well, This will be fun. I can make a nice coffee and put on some nice, I like to listen to classical music when I work. And you know, That's my day's journey. It's all good. So I really love that teaching. But going into a project relaxed will reduce the cortisol, Which is my normal fuel for getting things done. Okay, Now I know you're kidding. But not really. But you know the crazy thing? Because I'm with you. My mind loves to do stuff like that. This is a, This is a huge thing. And when I get really focused and, I like it. What I do know. Is that when I do things in a relaxed state, Time expands. Many, Many people have noticed and seen that time It isn't constant. And it's almost like it goes faster when we're stressed out. Like when we're just beating the drum to try to get it done. It's like, Ah, You know, And everything is so stressful. But it's like all of a sudden you totally relax. And you just start working through your to-do list or whatever you're doing. And you have all the time in the world. And I genuinely experienced that. So I do appreciate your comment because. That's. . . The norm, Right? But what if it's not true? That to me is the most brilliant thing about yoga. The yogic philosophy. That it really does present a different way of living in the world. What if being relaxed? Everything actually does get done. Did I ever tell you guys one time? Long, Long time ago. My kids were. . . Very young, They were like one and three years old. I had foster kids who were 11 and 13. And really troubled. It was a really, Really difficult time and we were on the farm. And I went to my friend, Nelda, My intuitive friend, For help. And I was like, I am so exhausted. I am just flying. I just don't even know which end is up. And she looked at me in this really way that, In this way that kind of mystics look at you. And she just said, I'm doing an experiment with the universe. Where I'm only doing things that bring me joy. So in my mind, I cursed her out big time because of course, I was. 27. I had a three-year-old, A one-year-old, Foster kids, And we owned the dairy farm by this time. It was just my husband and I milking 60 cows twice a day, Running 200 acres. We were, I mean, The idea of doing something that brought me joy wasn't even foreseeable in the 10-year future. Every second was about something else, Someone else. So I went away. And then a couple years later, My life had changed. The foster kids had moved on and my kids were a little bit older. Oh, I got sick. I had the breast lumps when my kids were, Yeah, Just a bit older. And I was having great dark nights of the soul. And I was now considering crazy things. Like this weird thing that Nelda had said to me years before. So I said to my husband and my kids, I'm going to do an experiment where I only do things that bring me joy. For one week. And that means that if I don't want to cook, You guys have to eat cereal. Or make something. And my husband wasn't going to, Like the farm was a huge amount of work. He couldn't do that. So it was like, You're going to have to make a sandwich or do something else. Cause if I don't want to cook, I'm not going to. Which is a huge deal for me to say that. So for one week, For the first couple days, I swear I just sat on the couch. You know, I did what I had to do. My kids were young, But. And then all of a sudden, After a couple of days, I actually kind of wanted to tidy the living room. And then after a day, I kind of wanted to make something nice for breakfast. Bit by bit, I started doing little things around the house. One week passed. You'd never seen a happier home. Like it was literally like snow white and the muffins were sitting in the windowsill cooling and you know music was playing from like it was just our home was so like it was so calm and peaceful. I'll never forget that. It's like time just opened up and everything just healed itself. And this is the funny thing about yoga and tantra and these kinds of teachings. Which is maybe why it's dangerous that we start to think that yoga is just about postures and tantra is just about sex or something. That when we really embrace the teachings and we really embrace the practices, Our life actually changes. You know, Like it actually. Changes, The quality of our life changes, The quality of time changes. And it's just so cool. Oh, This has been lovely, Guys. I will reread it one more time. And then actually, I would love to know your takeaway today. I find that everyone's takeaway is such a. Wonderful summary. Of all the hundred. Thoughts possible. Self-possessed, Resolute. Act without any thought of results. Open to success or failure. This equanimity. Is yoga. What's your takeaway today? Do things with joy. Mm-hmm. It's so beautiful, Right? Imagine, You know, As soon as I'm done this, I'll be happy. Isn't it funny that we don't just choose to be happy now? To walk through life with the same peace I received during Shavasana. Mm-hmm, Relax. Accepting that the unknown is inevitable. Mm-hmm Relax into difficulties and enjoy. Journey is more important than the destination. Gratitude flowing. Find the wow in everything. Find the magic in the mundane. Do everything with a joyful heart. Do not use judgment with the experience. For me, Don't contract, Expand. Live in liberty and joy. It's really nice. This has been so helpful. Wow is right. I feel so much joy and freedom in this moment. It's awesome. Don't be attached to the outcome. Just do the thing with peace and grounding. Well, Thank you, Everybody. I hope you have a wonderful week. And I will see you next week. If not before.

Reviews

One of my most favourite classes to date. Will listen again. Thanks 🙏🏻

I'm beginning to understand accepting life with an eternal perspective. Learning to truly see...