Once the realization of the Absolute Reality dawns, a person becomes 'free'- and will be called a 'jeevanmukta'. Such a person will invariably have to continue the normal daily activities and interactions in this mortal world. However, there will be noticeable changes in his or her reactions to the circumstances and difficulties thrown upon him/ her by life. There are two ways in which one can respond to troubles and tribulations of life- To react impulsively- blurt out, burst in anger, shout, contradict, cry etc. To choose not to react, and calmly respond in an appropriate way to lighten the situation It is not easy to attain such a state of equanimity- to choose not to react- even after acquiring The Knowledge. It is similar to the situation of someone who learns cycling. He/ she knows very well to balance and ride, and does so easily when the road is smooth and clear. However, she stumbles and goes off balance when encountered with a sudden obstacle in the road. The expertise of the cyclist can be gauged by how well she reacts to such obstacles. Particularly, Frequency- how often she feels troubled by obstacles Intensity- how intensely she goes off balance and gets hurt Recovery- how quickly she restores her composure and balance Swami Paramarthananda gives this valuable tool to assess our proficiency in being a 'stitha-pragnya' to progress further in our spiritual journey. As we progress- Frequency- the frequency of our episodes of getting upset will gradually reduce Intensity- the intensity of response will decrease. Dr. Hegde points out the 3 levels in the response- Emotional- feeling frustrated, angry, sad, depressed Verbal- answering loudly, talking back, harsh and abusive sms/ WhatsApp message/ mail Physical- wide eyes, changed facial features and intimidating body posture, tremors Once we are aware of these features, we can work towards reducing the 'FIR' of our response to obnoxious stimuli in our day to day lives. Swamiji points out that the Jnana is not going to remove the obstacles in our lives, but it helps in reducing the FIR of our response to such difficulties. Very precious wisdom indeed.

It is- •Eternal= Nityaha •The Reality= Sathyaha •All pervading= Sarvagathaha •Never an object; ever the subject= Aprameya •Not the doer; not the enjoyer= Akarta; Abhokta •Does not change= Nirvikara Answer= Atma. Or call it by whatever name. We need a term to identify that One, which satisfies all the above. Synonyms: Brahman, Aum

Most of us who are born and brought up in India would have heard the term Atma in some context or the other, right from our childhood days. We generally grow up hearing about this mystical term, loosely translated as 'soul', 'unseen part of living being which leaves the body at death' and many other explanations. For serious spiritual seekers, it will be wiser to disregard all their pre-conceived notions of the term atma, at the outset. Because, what is meant by 'Atma' in vedanta is grossly different. Then, what is it? We understand the world around us using our five senses-like- by seeing, hearing or touching. We deduce facts about some phenomena around us by inference. For example, if we see wet streets in front of our house in the morning, we infer that probably it rained in the night, when we were asleep. With technology, we can have a CCTV- camera to record and replay rains at night. We can have satellites to even predict rains. But is there a way to logically and scientifically explore the possibility of something which is not accessible to our senses, our capacity to deduce and our technological prowess? What will be the logical and scientific approach to find something unknown and incomprehensible to our senses. Does some'thing' incomprehensible exist at all? Vedanta declares that it is true that such incomprehensible exists. Vedanta is not just emphatic in asserting its presence, but says it is the essential nature of everything we experience. It goes on to further reveal the secret that it is not just the essence of the world we live in, but ourselves too. The culmination of vedanta is in the audacious thought that the incomprehensible atma or brahman is the absolute reality and all the constituents of the world around and inside of us can be considered unreal. Sri Krishna has distilled this vedantic wisdom in the form of teaching to his disciple Arjuna in Bhagavad Gita. The essential prerequisite to understand this teaching is a state like that of deluded Arjuna in the battlefield- in complete surrender. One has to undergo the wear and tear of life, to the point of break-down and getting wounded, as the miserable moments are the ones which leads to a state of helplessness, when trying and failing in finding a lasting solution using the worldly paradigm. Only then one will be in a ripe position to do self inquiry and surrender to a teacher who would lead with the light of atma jnana. We have to note that, as a corollary, the knowledge of atma will be elusive to a casual seeker or even a curious seeker. The intense urge required for inquiry is of a higher degree. As Rumi says, 'wound is the place where light enters you'. Best wishes.

Sri Krishna convinces Arjuna with His three-level approach to continue with the dharma-yuddha. This forms the essence of His teaching in Chapter 2 of Bhagavad Gita. Philosophical level- atma-anatma viveka Ethical level- dharma-adharma viveka Worldly angle- Laukika level The philosophical argument is covered in verses 12 to 25 of chapter 2. This is gives the core teaching of vedanta in a nut-shell. Further elaboration will continue in subsequent chapters.