77: Description, Not Condemnation

CHAPTER 18, TEXT 28: The worker who is always engaged in work against the injunctions of the scripture, who is materialistic, obstinate, cheating and expert in insulting others, and who is lazy, always morose and procrastinating is said to be a worker in the mode of ignorance.

There is something very, very fascinating about how Krishna phrases His words in this verse. Well, not only this verse but any verse that describes types of people within the modes of natures. 

He does not instruct.  

He does not condemn.

He simply describes. 

Sure, the words "obstinate" and "lazy" sound judgmental, but Krishna is not judgmental or petty in that way. He is objectively describing the mental habits and behavior of a worker who is cocooned within the mode of ignorance. 

To be honest? I find myself being described here. But I don't feel condemned by God. In fact, I feel understood. 

I feel understood for my habits of working in a lazy and morose way and constantly procrastinating. Prabhupad writes, "[Workers in the mode of ignorance] procrastinate; anything which can be done in an hour they drag on for years." I had to laugh at this statement, because I find such truth here. I can pull up a list in my mind of projects or "to-do"s that could be completed literally within an hour, but they go on uncompleted, year after year. 

When I read this verse of the Gita I feel as though I am looking into the mirror. I see more clearly that, ah yes, I am often a worker in the mode of ignorance. 

So I'll start there, by simply saying that I resonate with this verse, and I do not feel condemned, but understood. 

Consequently, and naturally, I feel this lacking within my heart, this sense that I want to not be in the mode of ignorance. I want to be described in a different way. I do. 

My next point now has to deal with the world that I observe around me, especially on social media. 

1) I've begun to notice how there seems to be a confusion about what should be done and what should not be done. Recently I've seen some women share about the deep pain and challenge of motherhood. And while I understand that that's a reality, still... it's a stage of life. Billions of women have endured motherhood for millennia, how come suddenly motherhood is so shocking? Granted, I am not a mother, and I sound like I am condemning women for complaining about the challenge. Still, this verse from the Gita mentions that one who is "always morose" implies someone who is working with a kind of dread, frustration, and resisting the reality of one's duty day after day. While moroseness and the pain and challenge of motherhood is natural, to hang out in that space for a prolonged period of time seems to be resisting one's duty and to be working in the mode of ignorance. 

2) I am seeing a lack of gentility in communication, and a prevalence of cutting insults towards others. I see name-calling, such as "racist", "neo-Nazi", "Karen", "white supremacist", "Uncle Tom", "baby-killers", "snowflake", "wimp" and more. Name-calling is a kind of laziness, labeling others in a way that demeans and disrespects without much consideration. Prabhupad writes that "Such workers are not very gentle, and generally they are always cunning and expert in insulting others." In fact, this brashness and cutting personality is even glorified in modern media. Youtube videos of personalities who condemn and name-call others are wildly popular. The problem with this new kind of gossip and name-calling is that it's out of touch with humanity. If we were all to relate with each other personally, one-on-one, this kind of painful communication would hurt and maim others in a deep way.

3) I am also seeing a kind of obstinate way of dealing with authority, a kind of obnoxious "push back" against being told what to do, especially according to any kind of scriptural injunction (which this verse of the Gita mentions). Authority is rejected and generally seen as an oppressive force that should be questioned at all times. At no point should authority be accepted and respected in any kind of deep way. This obstinate nature and refusal to accept authority is a trademark of workers in the mode of ignorance. 

This post started out by saying that Krishna does not condemn workers in the mode of ignorance. Sure, His language is strong, but he is simply describing the truth of workers in this mode, just as he describes workers in the modes of passion and goodness. Krishna does not even instruct us to work in the mode of goodness. 

He leaves it up to us. 

We read how these workers are described. We look in the mirror and nod when we resonate. 

And we make our own choice: what kind of worker do I want to be? 

Okay, okay, show me the description of the worker in the mode of goodness. Let's do this. Because... that's how I want to be described. I want to look in the mirror and see that person. 

So here it is: https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/26/

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Full purport here: https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/28/

70: Looking in the Mirror

CHAPTER 16, TEXT 17: Self-complacent and always impudent, deluded by wealth and false prestige, [the demons] sometimes proudly perform sacrifices in name only, without following any rules or regulations.

The 16th Chapter is entitled "The Divine and Demoniac Natures". I don't know about you, but the word "demoniac" or "demon" brings to mind a red, horned devil with a tail, cackling in hell. 

This is not what is meant when Krishna speaks about the "demons" or "the demoniac." The root Sanskrit word for divine beings (demigods) who favor God is the word sura. These beings possess divine qualities, such as truthfulness, self-control, and modesty (16.1). The word for "demon" is asura, which by the prefix a- tells us that these beings are the opposite of suras - those who oppose God, negate His existence, and possess a host of negative qualities such as lust, impudence, and false prestige (as stated above). 

The demigods and demons are not mythical creatures that hold epic battles in the sky over good and evil. The point of this sixteenth chapter is not to give us a lesson in Hindu cosmology or lore. 

This sixteenth chapter is meant to be a mirror that we hold up to our own hearts. We are meant to read these verses and identify when these qualities resonate in our lives - am I cultivating my divine nature?

Or am I cultivating my demoniac nature? 

I know it's a simplistic, cliched image, but there is even a modern equivalent of this struggle between choosing the divine or the demoniac: the angel and the devil on your shoulder. 

Often, though, this struggle is depicted as a rather vague struggle of conscience and "choosing the right thing" - whatever the "right" thing is (good luck with that). 

The 16th chapter makes this process clear with excruciating detail. An excruciating detail from this Text 17 is the phrase "without following any rules or regulations." Following rules and regulations is a concrete, powerful way to look in the mirror to determine whether one is cultivating a divine or demoniac nature. Rules and regulations are meant to elevate the soul to the mode of goodness, to bring about clean and pure habits. But when rules and regulations are disregarded, this is a red flag that one is sliding towards a demoniac nature. Prabhupad writes, "The word avidhi-pūrvakam, meaning a disregard for the rules and regulations, is especially stressed here." How come? Aren't rules and regulations just restrictions on the spirit, ways to suppress and oppress? 

We find a healthy application of rules and regulations in all spheres of life, from the rules and regulations of a highway, to health codes for restaurants to follow in the preparation and serving of food, to building codes, to the way a school or government or business is run. If one is to drive or serve food or construct a building or manage a government with any degree of success, rules and regulations must be followed. 

This same principle is applied for spiritual life - there are rules and regulations to follow in order to advance on the spiritual path with any success. A defining feature of a rule or regulation is that it is not only applied by one person on a whim - they are applied to any and all people who are participating in that  process. Meaning, there is a somewhat universal standard. 

But "the demons, however, do not care for such restrictions. They think that whatever path one can create is one’s own path; there is no such thing as a standard path one has to follow." Creating one's own path or believing that everything is all relative is a negative tendency, a trait that leads one to cultivate the demoniac nature. 

Why? 

How come not following a standard path is considered so... wrong? What could be so bad about creating something new - you know, blazing a new trail and stuff? 

Often, the desire to not follow a rule or regulation is from a kind of weakness of heart, not because one actually wants to revolutionize the world and do something positive. This "creating" of one's own path is often a guise for a few ways to avoid surrender. 

One - avoid the vulnerable and scary process of submitting to an authority and a higher order, especially if full trust has not been established. 

For example, "My new principal is telling me to write all of these detailed lesson plans in this particular way? Oh whatever, she doesn't know what she's talking about, I'll do them my own way." 

Or, "My spiritual teacher is telling me to lay off the alcohol? He doesn't understand the pain I'm going through with the loss of my mother, I'll drink when and how I need to,"

Two - avoid the hard or frustrating work of actually following a regulation.

For example, "To make sure we follow this building code, we'll have to spend thousands of dollars to hire an architect! We'll just do it our own way..." 

Or, "Vedic scriptures say I should not eat cow? Well, I'll eat free-range beef, at least the cows had a happy life," 

No matter what reasons or excuses are given to not follow a rule or regulation, these are often ways we avoid surrender. We avoid surrender "due to ignorance and illusion." If we had full knowledge, we would see that following the rules and regulations benefits not only ourselves but others, even the entire world. 

Following speed limits, health codes, and building codes is meant to prevent pain and drama and hardship. Rules and regulations are for our own good! They seem restricting but actually offer the greatest freedom. 

Cultivating a demoniac nature is about taking the easy, lazy way out, compromising one's integrity in the process. 

Cultivating a divine nature is about taking the hard, strenuous path which strengthens one's integrity and cleanses the heart. 

I'll finish this post with one of my favorite quotes: 

“If you are willing to do only what's easy, life will be hard. But if you are willing to do what's hard, life will be easy.” - Harv Eker

Full purport here: https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/16/17/

58: False Ego vs. Real Ego

Brace yourselves, this is a long chunk of text, but these five verses are traditionally grouped together. These verses are straight fire, each word and phrase a gem with potential to transform our lives. That said, for this post I will be focusing on what I have bolded and underlined.  

TEXTS 8-12: Humility; pridelessness; nonviolence; tolerance; simplicity; approaching a bona fide spiritual master; cleanliness; steadiness; self-control; renunciation of the objects of sense gratification; absence of false ego; the perception of the evil of birth, death, old age and disease; detachment; freedom from entanglement with children, wife, home and the rest; even-mindedness amid pleasant and unpleasant events; constant and unalloyed devotion to Me; aspiring to live in a solitary place; detachment from the general mass of people; accepting the importance of self-realization; and philosophical search for the Absolute Truth – all these I declare to be knowledge, and besides this whatever there may be is ignorance.

Everyone is searching for belonging - in fact, it is considered a human need. 

Kendra Cherry writes, "The need to belong, also often referred to as belongingness, refers to a human emotional need to affiliate with and be accepted by members of a group" (verywellmind.com). Belongingness is essential to living a healthy life as a human being, and according to this definition, belonging has two aspects - 

1) being affiliated with a group and 

2) being accepted by members of that group. 

How does one go about belonging with a group? 

Identifying with a group. 

If I'm affiliated with the National Association of Teachers of English (NATE), to be accepted by that group usually means that I AM a teacher of English to be accepted. I mean, I can't really think of a person who would belong to that organization who wasn't a teacher of English. Maybe an administrator? A fanboy/fangirl....? 

I can identify with so many roles and experiences in this material world, from being a teacher of English and attending a NATE conference, being an overeater and attending Overeaters Anonymous, being a gurukuli and attending a Kulimela... our identities are pretty limitless. 

But those identities are constantly changing. They're temporary. 

Thus, our sense of belonging is changing. Our belonging is temporary. 

Deep down, we all crave for an eternal belonging, a group of people to be affiliated with and accepted by that never changes. But if we want to belong in an eternal way, we must uncover our eternal identity. 

The most clear cut translation of identity is ego. Contrary to popular understanding, ego is not negative (or positive). Ego simply means "identity." 

Ego is often mistranslated to mean prideful, self-absorbed, and big-headed because that person has a false identity, or a false ego. Prabhupad writes that the preliminary understanding is that "False ego means accepting this body as oneself." This is the biggest mistake - my body is "me." 

The image that comes to mind is of a self-absorbed body builder and I tend to think, "That man (or woman) has a big ego," But really what I mean is "That man is so absorbed in his (or her) body that he thinks that he IS his body and that is pretty distasteful." After all, there's something off-putting about seeing a man or woman strut his or her muscular body around with a smug look. 

He or she knows that they're attractive and cool and strong - but all of those attributes belong to the body. 

What about the self? 

Is that body builder attractive and cool and strong on the inside? Maybe. Maybe not. We just don't know, because the body is not a reflection of true identity. 

There is such a thing as a real ego. Prabhupad writes, "When one understands that he is not his body and is spirit soul, he comes to his real ego. Ego is there." This means that our true identity is a spirit soul - this is our real, authentic ego. This is the highest sense of self. Of course, "False ego is condemned, but not real ego." False ego is condemned because the body is matter that is always changing. 

That same bodybuilder will get old and lose all attractiveness, coolness, and strength. This is no foundation upon which to build an authentic existence. Placing one's sense of self in the eternal spirit soul is the doorway to peace and freedom. In fact, "When the sense of self is applied to reality, that is real ego." Our reality is not this ever-changing body. Our reality is the spirit soul. 

One may say that the solution to all ego is to just claim that we should have no ego at all and merge into nothingness. Prabhupad writes that "There are some philosophers who say we should give up our ego, but we cannot give up our ego, because ego means identity." If we attempt to give up our ego, this means we would have no identity, no sense of self. 

But if we have no sense of self or identity, we cannot belong. 

Belonging is a core human need, and one could argue is a core soul need. Belonging is a foundation for many other needs of the soul such as Significance, Connection/Love, and Contribution (resus.com.au). These are needs. 

Needs are needs. 

This means if they're not met in a healthy way, one will attempt to get them met in an unhealthy way - throwing tantrums (Significance), forcing others to follow my rules (Connection/Love), and others forced to follow harsh rules makes a Contribution.

Trying to get these needs met by identifying with the body only leads to frustration and heartbreak. On the other hand, meeting these needs by identifying with the soul leads to the love and contribution and belonging that we all hunger for. 

Prabhupad emphasizes, "In the Vedic literature (Bṛhad-āraṇyaka Upaniṣad 1.4.10) it is said, ahaṁ brahmāsmi: I am Brahman, I am spirit. This “I am,” the sense of self, also exists in the liberated stage of self-realization. This sense of “I am” is ego, but when the sense of “I am” is applied to this false body it is false ego." In this aphorism, aham means "I am" and that "I am" is eternal - as Prabhupad says here, this sense of self exists even in the liberated stage. When we shed this material body and return to God, we will still exist in spirit - aham brahmasmi. But this sense of identity applied to this body is so ephemeral, the identities ever-changing, rolling by like so many coats we put on and discard.

Ultimately, those souls in the spiritual world is the group to be affiliated with and accepted by. The spiritual world is a place where there is an eternal exchange of love, connection, growth, and contribution. That is where we eternally belong. 

Full purport here: https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/13/8-12/