Chapter 3 Verses 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. The lecture was given by Swami Tattwamayananda on November 1, 2019.
-The mind will not keep quiet even for a split second (kṣaṇamapi). We do not have control over the mind, instead, we learn to redirect it toward creative channels. The mind then becomes our friend and guide.
-When the mind becomes the object of our awareness, then it becomes calm and quiet.
-If we try to remain physically inactive, but still have a lot of mental desire, then we will become hypocrites (mithyācāraḥ). We cannot even travel the journey of life (śarīra-yātrā), without performing actions.
-The Katha Upanishad uses the chariot imagery to illustrate the vehicle with which we travel the journey of life. The buddhi, deciding faculty, is the driver. The mind, the stream of conflicting thoughts and feelings come one after another, is the reins. The senses of perception – touch, smell, taste, sound, sight – and the senses of action – speech, hands, feet, generative, evacuative – are the horses.
-Using our deciding faculty, we must give up slavish attachments to sense objects.
-Our desire and ego must be given a promotion to accomplish noble things, this naturally leads to real unselfish action. At the beginning, we cannot give up all ego all of a sudden.
-We learn to do work with a sense of faith, without desire for any special immediate practical benefit (niyataṁ karma), so we have no sense of worry.
-The Sanskrit word yajña has a narrow meaning - a prescribed Vedic ritual - but it also has a wider meaning - the art of doing all of our obligations with a sense of sanctity and seriousness.
-Satyam, dharma, and ṛtam refer to the truth; the ethical, spiritual foundation; and the unifying harmonizing principle behind all phenomenon, respectively. When we act according to these three principles, it is called yajña.
-When we violate this yajña principle of action, our action binds us to the world. All actions leave an invisible residual effect, as well as a tangible visible result. The invisible residual effects form tendencies in our character, which stay with us.
-We inherit a spiritual bank balance in our next life. Negativity, doubt, etc. are a result of the inheritance of samskaras generated from bad actions, tendencies.
-Shiva-loka refers to a realm where everything is seen in its sublime dimension.