Summary of 9/30/13 Class

Hari Om!

We spent class time yesterday, discussing in detail, the relevance of the text that we are studying.

Arjuna can be used to parallel ourselves and our minds. Leading up to the war, Arjuna is extremely focused but when he goes up to the middle of the battlefield, Arjuna has a "point of inflection" at which time he has a complete mental breakdown. What are those things that cause this mental breakdown?

How can we connect this to situations that we face regularly?

We can start by looking at battles we have:

• Sports Competitions
• School/Exams/Grades
• Dealing with parents

One of the most difficult things for Arjuna was that he was opposing people he loved and cared about. In our battles, we also often have to face and compete with family and friends that we care for.

          One of the examples we discussed was that of Eli and Peyton Manning -- is it not a reasonable assumption that the two brothers care for each other and therefore may have conflicting feelings about "fighting it out on the field?"

So now that we have acknowledged that we have similar situations to Arjuna, what made Arjuna have a complete breakdown and what factors cause us to have a breakdown? Are they similar?

Points of Inflection - Causes of breakdown:

• Fear of Failure
• Overwhelming Odds
• Attachments
• Misplaced Confidence
• Being psyched out

Arjuna was psyched out by Dhritrashtra who tried to convince him not to fight Duryodhana and to be the "bigger man." Arjuna is most affected attachment to family members and those that he respects and cares about.

In our own battles, we face the same "points of inflection" and if they cannot be controlled, they can lead to breakdowns on the sports' field, examination center, etc.

As we see that Arjuna's situation is not so different from situations that we face regularly, the solutions to his problems, can also help us to solve our own.

Having understood this, we go on to understand the excuses and arguments that Arjuna makes to not have to fight the war. We ended by asking the question:

"Was Arjuna's desire to switch to the path of ahimsa (non violence) and renounce his duties as a warrior plausible?"

Announcement:

There will be a Chyk Leadership Workshop by Swami Sarveshananda from 7:30-9:30 PM this Tuesday October 1st at the Asian American Cultural Center at Rutgers' Livingston Campus. Refer to Maneesha Aunty's email for more info or email Aparna Shankar at: aparnash@eden.rutgers.edu.

Address: Rutgers University - Livingston Campus
Asian American Cultural Center
49 Joyce Kilmer Ave.
Piscataway, NJ 08854