The Purity Of Our Spiritual Intentions: How Our Desires Lead Us Through The Universe According To The Yoga Tradition with Kaustubha Das.

This easy to understand class will discuss three fundamental motives that human beings carry throughout their lives, and explore the results of each through descriptions of the cosmos found in yoga texts such as the Bhagavad-gita, Srimad Bhagavatam and Brahma Samhita.

The world can be seen as

-The only reality / an object of personal enjoyment

-An illusory place of suffering / meant to be transcended

-Both real and unreal / intrinsically connected with the Divine

-Sacred yoga texts refer to these world views as karma, jnana, and bhakti. Many of us hold a mixed sense of how we see and relate to this world, including two, or all three of these ideas.

One way to understand the path of yoga, or spirituality in general, is as a practice of purifying how we see the world and what motivates us, from the level of exploitation, to renunciation, to dedication. In other words, the progression from selfishness, to escapism, to selfless love.

The Bhagavad-gita compares the world we live in to a reflected, upside-down Banyan tree in which we are trapped. This class will discuss the reflection, the spiritual source of the reflection, and what lies in-between.

We will be using a map of the Vedic cosmos showing

-Material world –  the lower realm (the reflection) wherein the motive of karma dominates

-Brahmajoti – the middle realm (the divine light) where the motive of jnana dominates

-Vaikuntha – the higher, spiritual realm (the original source) where the motive of bhakti dominates

Topics covered includes

-The nature of the material world and the laws that govern it such as karma (atcion & reaction), kala (the force of time), and the gunas (goodness, passion and ignorance – the three energies that predominate the world and shape our consciousness).

-The role of the Devas such as Shiva, Ganesha, Durga, etc.

-The nature of the divine light that exists as a middle realm in the cosmos.

-The divine sense of selfless love that governs the spiritual realm, exemplified in Radha and Krishna.

-The practices of purifying our spiritual intentions.

This course will be offered twice in in the Fall season.

Sunday, October 30  1:00pm – 4:00pm

Wednesday, November 2  6:00-9:00pm

Students must register and donate online. To Register click here

Note: It is recommended, but not required, that one first attend the course The 4 Paths of Yoga as a precursor to this class.