So we are reading from the Bhagavad Gita.
This particular one is Stephen Mitchell's version.
But I also read from Paramahansa Yogananda,
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.
So this is something you would love to follow along with and have your own version.
Feel free to pick up any Bhagavad Gita that you love.
If you go into a bookstore or you check them out on Kindle or something and you say,
Hey,
You know,
Do I like this?
Does the way the translator translated it ring true for me?
Awesome.
Even if you're not reading the same version as I am.
I might say,
Like today,
We're going to do chapter 2,
Verses 60 to 64.
We're doing a bunch today.
But then you can actually read,
You can listen to what my translation is,
But then you can read yours and you will get a different insight.
Like you'll get,
Well,
Isn't that interesting?
My translation interpreted that word this way.
Isn't that interesting?
And so.
I encourage everybody to read whatever version you love,
Because we all take different things at it.
Even for me,
There are times that I love Stephen Mitchell's version,
And there's other times that I really love the other versions.
It's always good to.
Not be too much of a stickler when we're reading interpretations of things.
So the Bhagavad Gita is a discussion between Arjuna and Krishna.
And Arjuna is our hero.
And Krishna is your highest self?
God?
Lord.
Which is the language that they would use in most of these translations.
But it's a dialogue between them.
And essentially Arjuna has come up against a dark night of the soul where everything he ever believed is under question.
Everything he ever believed has brought him to a point where he can't engage in life any longer.
And it takes place on a battlefield.
But the battlefield is in Sanskrit,
It's called Kurukshetra.
And Kurukshetra is like the pilgrimage of the heart.
Pilgrimage of the soul.
And that's what happens is that here we are,
These eternal beings.
And we're here on earth and we've been given a personality.
Maybe we've had multiple lifetimes.
Maybe we have ancestral patterns,
Trauma,
And gifts,
But we tend to focus on the things that we have struggled with.
And we have these ancestral patterns right in our DNA.
That half the time we're struggling with something.
It's not even ours.
It's something that happened to our mom.
Or something that happened to an ancestor we maybe never even heard of.
But for some reason,
Something in our circumstances,
This is the entire field of epigenetics.
That for some reason something in our world has triggered an old genetic memory.
But of course we don't know that.
All we know is we feel sad,
Or we feel angry,
Or we can't control an addiction,
Or suddenly we're finding ourselves in patterns of pain and suffering.
And we just assume it's us.
And so over time,
We learn things.
We learn philosophies about life.
We learn ideas that we believe in,
Not just ideas that our parents thought,
But ideas from books.
Like for me,
I love reading.
And I think some of the things that I've beaten myself up the most with Root!
Limitations from my parents.
It was trying to live up to being Gandhi.
Or some great teacher or some great spiritual leader and is like,
Oh,
I should be like that person.
Why am I not like that person?
But that's me.
That's me adopting belief systems and putting them all together.
Many,
Many people,
Most of us probably by the time we're this age,
We've hit a dark night of the soul a couple times already.
Where we just stop,
We get stopped in our tracks going.
I need a different way of understanding the world.
And that's where Arjuna is.
So Krishna is giving him different perspective,
A perspective beyond the lost space that we can get into when we're a personality.
Like let's say for example,
If you imagine there is you.
Let's say U with a big Y.
And then there is,
Like for me,
There's Katrina.
Now Katrina has a very specific persona.
She's a 57-year-old woman who lives in Goddard,
Ontario,
Canada,
And she was raised by two teachers,
And she has these particular health struggles,
And she has these interests,
And she has had these kind of relationships in the past,
And she's a mother,
And she's this,
And she's.
.
.
It's all just made up.
You know,
Role that I'm playing on this stage of life.
And in order to play that role,
I have to have certain belief systems and certain struggles and certain incorrect belief systems,
You know,
To make it all work.
But then there is me.
Who's watching Katrina?
And this is a big part of the yogic journey.
It doesn't matter what yoga you do or tantra or whatever you study.
Buddhism all of it.
It's like There's an aspect of you that's watching.
And that's interesting.
For me,
If they look at the chakras,
Right in the heart center,
The place,
If I was to say to you,
Who are you?
You would point,
I am.
And think of that,
That we always capitalize I.
It's interesting.
And when I point there,
In Hindu teachings,
They would say that this is where Atman lives.
And Atman is like.
.
.
Divine,
Personified divine.
And in my crazy brain.
I picture this isn't true or correct,
And I don't recommend it.
This is just my strange creative perspective.
Whenever I thought of this Atman in my heart center,
Observing like my soul like my highest self I always pictured it light.
The alien on the Flintstones?
If anyone ever watched the Flintstones.
Anyway,
There's this little green alien and I always,
I think it was green,
I can't remember,
But I always pictured it like this little spaceman sitting here watching the humans.
Yeah,
The Greek gazoo,
Yeah.
And I don't know why that's the picture my mind gave,
But it gave me an interesting perspective.
It gave me sort of this place where I could watch myself even.
I've been with William for four and a half years now.
And we have an absolutely beautiful,
Wonderful relationship.
Our relationship is also a place of healing.
Because the more comfortable you get,
The more stuff that rises.
And just like yesterday.
Something came up and it was a misunderstanding and it was upsetting and it was confusing.
But it's so interesting to be able to have that.
Other self.
It's not other,
It's you.
But to have that great gazoo or that otherworldly perspective that kind of watches me saying,
What do you think is triggering this?
Like I can feel all the emotions,
But I can also watch and see.
Wow,
This is really loaded.
And it kind of gives me the.
.
.
Quiet inside.
To be kind.
To actually be able to sit with him and say,
I'm really,
Really triggered.
I'm really,
I don't know what this is.
And I think we,
You know,
And then he too does the same thing.
And suddenly it's like our wisest selves get together to talk about what the kids are doing.
The kids being little William and little Katrina.
And they're really smart.
You know,
Our wisest selves.
And sometimes we don't solve it right away.
And so if we can't solve it,
We have two things that we do.
These are our spiritual practices as a couple.
We go out for breakfast.
I don't know what it is about sitting in a neutral zone of a diner,
Sitting across the table from each other,
Drinking coffee,
Eating bacon and eggs.
I don't know what that is.
But somehow.
We find resolution.
And the other thing we do.
.
.
As we go for a drive.
Let me just get in the car.
Grab a couple coffees,
And we go for a drive.
And somehow we resolve things.
You need to have that highest self inside,
Engaged.
Otherwise you're just sitting there fighting with each other,
Throwing darts and being mean.
So this is a huge part of the Gita.
Is developing.
That connection to our eternal self.
In all aspects of our life.
So I'm going to back up and I'm going to read.
For anyone who's just joining.
I,
We are reading.
Chapter 20.
Chapter 20.
Chapter 2 and we're gonna study verses 60 to 64.
But I'm gonna back it up a little.
Arjuna said,
How would you describe the man whose wisdom is steadfast,
Krishna?
How does this wise man speak?
How does he sit,
Stand,
And walk?
Because of course,
Christian has been saying,
Here's what a wise man is,
Here's what a.
.
.
And Christian's like,
Okay,
But hold on a minute.
What does this look like in life?
What's this guy doing?
And Krishna says,
When a man gives up all desires that emerge from the mind and rests contented in the self,
By the self.
Self is capitalized here.
So this is your big self.
When he rests contented in the self by the self.
He is called a man of firm wisdom.
He whose mind is untroubled by any misfortune,
Whose craving for pleasures have disappeared,
Who is free from greed,
Fear,
And anger.
Who is unattached to all things,
Who neither grieves nor rejoices if good or if bad things happen.
That man is a man of firm wisdom.
Having drawn back all his senses from the objects of sense as a tortoise draws back into his shell.
That man is a man of firm wisdom.
Sense objects fade for the abstinent,
Yet the craving for them continues.
But even the craving vanishes for someone who has seen the truth.
So all of those we've studied in the last few weeks.
And you can listen to recordings of the talks we've done on all of those.
They're all here in our playlist here.
But here are the verses we're going to look at today.
At first,
Although he continually tries to subdue them,
The turbulent senses tear at his mind and violently carry it away.
Restraining the senses disciplined.
He should focus his whole mind on me.
When the senses are in his control.
That man is a man of firm wisdom.
If a man keeps dwelling on sense objects.
Attachment to them arises.
From attachment,
Desire flares up.
From desire,
Anger is born.
From anger,
Confusion follows.
From confusion,
Weakness of memory.
Weak memory goes to weak understanding.
And weak understanding.
Takes us to ruin.
But the man who is self-controlled.
Who meets the objects of the senses with neither craving nor aversion.
Will attain serenity at last.
Where does that take you?
Where does that leave you?
Do you have emotions that rise when you feel,
Hear that?
Thoughts that come up.
I would love to know if you want to share in the chat.
You know,
Does this feel possible?
It's a lot eh?
Since my husband died four years ago,
I've been moving into this space of non-desire,
No attachment,
But it feels really strange.
But these kinds of talks give me affirmation,
For which I'm very grateful.
The word attachment stands out.
Can you repeat that last bit about anger confusion?
That really resonated with me.
Sure,
Actually I'm going to read a book.
Different version of that part because It was one that I really liked.
This one.
This is Paramahansa Yogananda's version.
Brooding on sense objects causes attachment to them.
Attachment breeds craving.
Craving breeds anger.
Anger breeds delusion.
Delusion breeds loss of memory of the self.
Loss of right memory causes decay.
Of the discriminating faculty.
From decay of discrimination.
Annihilation of the spiritual life follows.
Attachment breeds craving.
Craving breeds anger.
Anger breeds delusion.
Delusion breeds loss of memory of the self.
Loss of right memory causes decay.
Of the discriminating faculty,
Which they would consider booty.
Or the intellect.
Kind of like Buddha with an eye.
And from the decay of the intellect.
The end of the spiritual life follows.
That reading is intense,
Right?
Let's start there.
There's so many places to talk about.
There's so many,
So many things.
So in the eight limbs of yoga.
We've often heard of a word.
Diana.
I'm gonna put it in the.
.
.
Comment here d h y a n a.
Deanna.
Deanna?
It means absorption.
Or holy prayer or holy communion that you truly It's like you begin with Dharana,
Which is single-pointed focus,
And say meditation.
And then you become absorbed.
And that's called Deanna.
Well,
There's another word called Daya Yato.
So it's D-H-Y-A Y-A-T-O.
Dear Yato,
And Diyato comes from the same root as Diyana.
But this,
They actually call it reverse meditation.
And it's the idea.
That whatever we focus on.
We merge with.
If you sit quietly and focus on your breath,
You will merge with your breath.
You will merge with the source of life that begins the breath.
That's what meditation really is.
If we focus on the present.
Other things in life.
The things from this sensory world,
And that can be pleasure,
It can be aversion to pain.
It can be relationships.
It can be people.
It can be things people said.
It can be fear.
Anything in the phenomenal world,
Anything in the world out there.
If we are focusing on it,
We are merging with it.
And that's what they call.
Dear Yato,
This is where we replay thoughts over and over and over and over in our minds.
Like a negative mantra.
Our being has no choice.
But to fully merge there.
And this is where it's really interesting.
This is where the role of that.
Higher self.
Comes into play.
And again,
This doesn't mean there's anything wrong with being human or there's nothing wrong with Katrina.
There's nothing wrong with the person who struggles and has this and is healing this and is trying that and has hopes and dreams.
That is our life experience.
But if my Cravings.
And my fears drive my life?
What's going to happen?
If I just spent every day sitting here thinking about every rotten thing that could happen.
And every rotten thing that had ever happened to me or even out in the world.
Like we have to be very careful what we're thinking about.
What's my life going to be like?
What's my spiritual life going to be like?
What am I going to create?
Really?
How can I possibly create anything?
While I am fully merging.
With these thoughts.
So suddenly you can imagine this,
Hold on,
Let's see what.
This is where Paramahansa begins.
Brooding.
On sense objects.
So sense objects is anything you can see,
Hear,
Taste,
Smell,
Or touch.
That includes people,
Circumstances,
Money.
Fame,
Glory,
Whatever.
Brooding on sense objects.
Causes attachment to them.
Brooding on sense objects causes attachment to them.
Like,
We wonder,
Like,
Where do these attachments come from?
From thinking about them.
I tell you,
Like for me.
.
.
It is my daily.
Thought you know that I create my reality.
Based on what I think about.
And I am in total control of what I think about.
Isn't that crazy?
Nobody else,
Not another soul in the world has control over what I think about.
So I am totally in control of my reality.
Why would I choose?
What I choose.
Consciousness is the content of consciousness,
Totally.
Between stimulus and response,
There is a space.
In our response lies our growth and our freedom,
100%.
The lust of possession.
Okay,
So brooding on sense objects causes attachment to them.
Attachment breeds craving.
So now you have an attachment.
Well,
Once you have an attachment to something,
You want something.
Maybe you want resolution to something.
Maybe you want that chocolate.
Maybe you want that relationship.
Maybe you want that money.
Maybe you want that weight loss.
Maybe you want that,
Maybe whatever,
But I'm attached to it now.
So now,
I have a craving,
And this craving is now mine.
It's kind of a,
It's kind of a.
Wild free radical or something because it's no longer connected to your soul.
It's a creation.
Of the focus we had on it,
Which then created the attachment,
And the attachments aren't real.
They're all fabrications.
Again,
It's really,
Really.
Helpful to know that.
It's not true.
And I'm not talking about loving your kids attachment,
Like none of that.
I'm talking about.
Becoming obsessed with something,
Becoming obsessed with a goal,
Becoming obsessed with a topic,
Becoming obsessed with a person.
As soon as you think about them,
You create the attachment.
As soon as you create the attachment,
You create a craving.
And we all know that cravings are uncontrolled.
Otherwise they wouldn't be called a craving.
You would just say,
Yeah,
If there's broccoli,
I like broccoli.
Craving breeds anger.
Why does craving breed anger?
Because we're not getting what we want.
As soon as something stands in the way.
Of what we want.
Now we're angry.
Because you crave what you don't have,
Exactly.
So now you're angry.
Well,
Anger.
In almost every healing modality.
Is poison in the body.
And again,
We're not talking about healthy anger that enforces boundaries and all that.
We're talking about chronic anger.
We're talking about anger that rises from the inside.
Because of thoughts that we're having.
That's an entirely different thing.
Then someone just did something to us and our anger is going to protect us.
But now.
Brooding on an object created attachment.
Attachment created a craving.
Craving now created an anger.
So now all of a sudden,
We're angry.
And I don't know if you've ever been angry.
I've been angry about things.
I'm very opinionated.
When you become angry like that,
We all become a little delusional.
And we lose connection with who we truly are.
The anger.
Makes us blind.
It's like being hot,
Not being hot,
Being drunk on the emotion of anger.
And you just,
You just can't.
And you completely lost the plot of what you even want in life.
So anger breeds delusion.
Because now we don't even have a correct perspective on the world now.
Because this whole anger,
It's all fabrication.
All fabrication because you couldn't stop thinking about something.
And it's okay,
I'm just saying.
We just have to remember that it's a thought experiment.
Quantum physicists have been doing thought experiments forever.
All right,
Here's the scenario.
Let's think about this.
If this happened,
Then this would happen,
Then this would happen.
This is normal.
This is healthy prefrontal cortex functioning.
There's nothing wrong with that.
But the problem is,
When we do it like this,
We think it's real.
We think it's justified.
We think we are on the right path.
But we've forgotten that it's all made up in our mind.
So delusion,
So anger breeds delusion.
Delusion breeds loss of memory of the self.
Of the big S self.
And this is a really big deal in the yoga world,
Tantra world.
Because.
.
.
When we deeply understand.
That who we truly are,
The true self,
Big S self.
We are everything.
We are this whole world.
It's the Rumi quote.
That we are not a drop in the ocean.
We are the ocean in a drop.
We are all of these things.
Back we are.
Eternal,
Infinite beings.
And the biggest.
Pain,
The biggest suffering that we have as humans.
Is that we've forgotten that.
And we think that I'm only Katrina Boss.
And I think that my problems.
Are everything.
And so this is just a foundational understanding amongst all of these traditions that this is the core suffering that we have.
It's like the wanting puts you in a state of believing scarcity.
That feels like loss of control and that makes me angry,
100%.
We feel we are transient and that's where suffering comes from.
It helps me remember that I'm not alone.
Like I often think that why are we all gathering here together?
If we all got together in a room.
You would find the most diverse group of people on the surface that you've ever seen.
There's some part of us that is all the same.
And we all feel it when we gather.
We feel the.
.
.
That maybe that's what true communing is,
True community.
Because the parts of us that are eternal.
.
.
Just gather together.
When you said anger brings delusion,
I thought of the word dis-ease.
We have lost touch with the real self.
Exactly.
Exactly.
Okay,
So anger breeds delusion.
Delusion breeds loss of memory of the self.
And now he's contracted that into loss of right memory,
Like correct memory.
Loss of right memory causes decay of the discriminating faculty.
Now in this instance,
The discriminating faculty is the intellect.
The part of us that can discern our path.
And that's interesting,
Right?
How do we live without that?
Do you ever have that?
I mean,
Maybe you can remember a time when you've definitely felt like that.
Or maybe a friend comes over.
And they have been stewing in their juices for way too long and they are so angry.
They are absolutely delusional and you're sitting there chit-chatting with them because you love them.
And they are way beyond reason.
They have not had a logical thought in days.
And as a friend,
That's kind of our job,
Right,
Is to kind of sit and let them.
Get it all out.
Let them come to peace,
And then let them access their own intellect again.
Because while they're spinning in all of this anger and delusion and frustration and attachment and everything,
You can't think straight.
Maybe the intellect is the one who chooses the response in the end.
Totally.
I feel so many people go through that,
But you can only listen.
You can't feed the anger,
Right?
Like,
You know that,
Right?
If you're sitting with someone,
It's like,
Hmm.
I better just wait this one out.
And then from decay of the intellect.
The annihilation of the spiritual life follows.
And that's interesting to me because they're not talking about like the spiritual life,
Like I burn incense and I meditate,
Not that.
But it's like it's the end of the connection to your soul.
You ever done that?
Like sometimes even you can be in a relationship where you get so lost.
You get so lost in the.
.
.
Permutations and combinations of everything that the person has said to you,
And maybe you've been gaslit,
Maybe they're actually a narcissist,
Maybe you have some struggles with all these things,
Who knows,
But by the time,
You know,
10 years have gone by with this person,
You actually can't think straight.
And because you can't think straight,
You don't even know who you are anymore.
You might have vague memories of who you were before you met them.
You have no idea who you are.
And who you are,
That is our spiritual journey.
It isn't something lofty up in the Himalayas.
It's here.
Just knowing who we are.
Is a beautiful word.
It's a Sanskrit word called prasada.
I'm going to put it in the chat.
P-R-A-S-A-D-A.
Prasada.
And prasada means inner peace.
Lucidity.
Inner clearness.
And it's defined.
Here's how they define it.
Real spiritual peace is clear.
Bright,
Joyous equilibrium.
That remains intact regardless of outer circumstances.
That's the goal.
And this is where,
And one of the big part of the teaching in this whole section.
Is that it isn't enough to just say,
I need to break this habit.
It isn't enough to just say,
I'm going to stop thinking about that thing.
I'm going to stop overeating.
I'm going to stop drinking.
I'm going to stop doing drugs.
I'm going to stop gossiping.
I'm going to stop whatever.
It's not enough to say that.
Because it doesn't work.
That's why they say here.
They even say things,
Let's see what Maharishi Mahesh says.
Sometimes he's got fun ways to say things.
Peaces.
The turbulent senses.
Oh Arjuna.
Forcibly carry away the mind,
Even of a discerning man.
Who tries to control them.
Like he's not saying someone who's asleep.
He's seeing even people who are trying really hard.
To do the right thing.
The senses just pull them sideways sometimes.
And that's okay.
Like he's not saying that's the end of the world.
He's saying,
Don't worry about it.
It happens to everybody.
Don't beat yourself up.
The senses are powerful.
They were designed for survival.
They are not going to just go to the side because I decided I'm not going to have that anymore.
These are primordial forces within us.
This is so,
So important.
And this is why they always say that a spiritual path is not intellectual.
A spiritual path has to be experiential.
You can't think your way.
Into enlightenment.
That's like asking the tools of the ego.
To dismantle themselves.
The mind can't stop the mind.
The ego is not going to stop itself.
But we are not just the ego.
We are also divine immortal beings.
We are these eternal.
Specks of stardust.
The key to releasing the attachments to the sensory world.
Is to develop the connection to the self.
To develop the connection to that part of us that we can't actually describe.
This is one of the hardest parts.
Audre Lorde said,
The system's tools will not dismantle the system's house.
It's genius.
So it's a fascinating thing because When you have an experience that you get a glimpse of something else,
You can't describe it.
Osho even would go as far as to say,
If you've never had an experience that you couldn't describe,
Then you've never actually touched the divine.
The divine is ineffable,
Indescribable.
And I mean the divine within.
I don't mean some dude living on a cloud.
I mean the divine within,
The divine essence.
It's funny,
William and I were talking about this.
In the exploration of Tantra.
Because one of the challenges with teaching Tantra especially in say how it applies to intimacy and things like that.
Is that the experiences you have are not describable.
It's not like you can say,
Ah,
Do this and this and this,
And then you will experience this and this and this.
All you know is it feels different or it feels wonderful,
But you can't describe it.
It's like describing the color red to a blind person.
They actually need the sight,
The sense of sight to see the red.
In order to develop the connection within.
It takes a different set of senses.
It doesn't come from the five senses.
Which is often why the mystics would use poetry or prose or something else to try to circle around the experience.
So that we can feel something.
So even like say that roomy quote to say that You know,
You are the ocean in a drop.
I can't explain to you what that means.
But there'll be a feeling inside of you.
Something indescribable that suddenly says,
I know this.
I know this.
There may be times that you have sat in meditation.
And you sit there.
And you close your eyes and for some reason it works.
Your mind stops.
And you have this moment of nectar.
Inside of you.
And you don't even know what it is.
And the worst thing is sometimes if we can't describe it,
We think it wasn't real.
Or we think it wasn't important.
And so.
It's really important to.
This is where your daily practice,
Whatever it is.
Is so powerful.
Because the daily practice,
Whatever you choose that's right for you,
Will be something that is constantly connecting you.
With your highest self.
And you know,
In yoga,
There are many yogic paths.
Hatha yoga that we often see here in North America or in the West.
Hatha Yoga is for people.
Who feel divine through physical movement.
They feel the divine through the body.
They do a juice cleanse and they feel like a million bucks.
They run a marathon and they touch God.
They do a morning yoga practice and every morning it resets them completely.
They are not doing it because they should.
They're doing it because they love the feeling of being in their body and it reconnects them with their own divinity.
Some people love meditation.
When they sit on their mat,
This is their chance to go within.
This is their chance to connect with the breath,
Which carries the life force of prana.
This is their time to release the rest of the world,
Go inward and experience.
That ocean.
That is their consciousness.
Kundalini Yoga,
What I teach,
This is considered a Raja Yoga.
Because it's all about quietening the mind so that you can find that inner peace through meditation.
Not for everybody.
Some people are karma yogis.
They touch God through helping others,
Through work.
And if they are spinning sideways,
If they're delusional with anger about something,
They go and read to seniors.
Or they go and they shovel the neighbor's driveway of their snow.
Or they go and help at a soup kitchen.
And in the act of doing that,
They heal and they come back to themselves.
Some people are bhakti yogis and they sit and they literally focus on a deity.
Maybe they love Jesus.
Maybe they love Saraswati.
Maybe they love Shiva.
And they sit and they ponder and they commune and they merge with the essence of that deity.
Maybe they even sing songs,
Which is the foundation of kirtan.
They sing songs to that deity.
But it's a.
.
.
It's a very specific kind of person who this works for.
And I think this is a big part of our journey is figuring out.
What kind of yogi am I?
What truly If you imagine you have two baskets.
And one basket are all the connections you have to your soul,
To your dream.
True self,
Your divinity.
And over here is a basket of all your attachments.
To the world.
What does it,
You only have so much energy in the day.
What practice moves some of the energy from the world basket into the divine basket?
What practice does that for you?
That's all that matters.
What perplexes me is that from time to time,
My daily practice changes from meditation to yoga to writing to service.
Then I feel or wonder what's up with me that I need to change my practice.
The truth is we're all things.
Oh,
Gnani Yogi.
Leslie also reminded me.
Ironically of the kind of yoga yogi I am And I am a Jnani Yogi.
Where all I need to do is sit and read.
A sacred text,
Or learn,
And I will be right as rain after.
That is the true,
I mean,
I teach Kundalini Yoga,
I teach meditation,
I teach all kinds of things.
But this is actually the foundation of my personal practice.
But I don't think there's anything wrong with that.
I think it's good to have all the tools.
There's nothing wrong with changing it up.
What does your body need now?
That's all that matters.
Witch Yogi.
Is the one that turns to the arts to heal.
I'm not sure,
But my sense is that I think it would be.
.
.
Karma yogis.
Because it's through action.
Because Karma Yoga is not just about volunteering.
Cameo is very deep.
It's actually even about.
.
.
Doing work for the work's sake.
Without attachment,
You know,
Whether you.
Are a teacher,
Or a rocket scientist,
Or a barista,
Or a truck driver.
That you always do the work.
For the work's sake.
That is the act of a Karma Yogi as well.
And so I wonder if people who turn to the arts,
Who just love the arts.
It feels like a karma yogi.
And those who sing and do mantra.
Sing and do mantra,
That could be the kirtan,
Those are the bhakti yogis.
Because again,
In the West,
Kirtans sort of just become a sing-along.
It's just been a really fun time to get together with them.
Wonderful musicians and wholehearted people.
And we just sing all the songs.
But a true bhakti yogi.
May say love Durga.
And they will have a mantra that they repeat.
That is their meditation.
And they will chant a mantra.
Of Durga.
That's the true bhakti yoga.
Because it means something.
I've been to kirtans that were absolutely,
You were so high on life after.
That's not bhakti yoga.
That's just being high on community.
That's just the thrill of epic music and epic humans.
I always think of a bhakti yogi as like in sometimes Christians will wear a A bracelet that says WWJD?
What would Jesus do?
That's a bhakti yoga thing.
But someone else might say,
What would Krishna do?
What would Gandhi do?
What would,
I don't know,
Wayne Dyer do?
It doesn't matter who it is,
But you're actually going to take somebody.
I mean,
You shouldn't probably choose just a human.
Theoretically,
It's a deity.
But that's the spirit of it.
What would this personality that I understand do?
What would Dolly do?
100%.
That's the best.
Ha ha.
Oh,
So true.
Karma Yoga is action-based.
I suppose for a greater good.
So,
And I know we're a little over time,
But.
It's so true.
But the greater good begins inside of us.
To be a Karma Yogi,
It begins with us doing it in genuine joy.
It's not doing it because it's benefiting other people.
Like,
Have you ever had someone help you do something?
Because maybe you really needed help.
I remember after my son was born.
I was in really bad shape.
I'd had a very,
Very traumatic C-section.
I had a lot of complications after,
I couldn't walk.
I was in really,
Really bad shape for a long time.
There were friends that came to help.
And they were really helpful.
And they were joyful,
And they were fun,
And they were lovely.
But then there were other people.
That felt obligated to come and help.
And I wish they'd never come.
It's the joy inside of us that we spread into the universe.
I'm not going out and doing things and their lives are improving.
It's like this is a very,
Very common teaching,
Especially among Buddhism and Tantra and stuff that We are the microcosm of the macrocosm.
If we do something in joy,
Joy expands.
If we do something out of obligation,
Obligation expands.
Service from the place of abundance exactly when we feel abundance we spread abundance energetically into the world and that's where being a karma yogi We really want to do it for fun.
We want to find fun in everything we do.
Karma yogi could be doing the dishes and doing that Buddhist meditation of wow this is such nice warm water and oh the soap suds smell so good and that is the act of karma yoga.
Through the act of washing dishes.
I am happier.
And therefore.
I spread happiness into the world.
Well,
Thanks,
Everybody.
I hope you have a wonderful week.
We'll see you guys later.
