This lecture was given on September 22, 2019 at the Vedanta Society of Northern California by Swami Tattwamayananda.

-Spiritual common sense is valuable and rare. It is rarer than intellectual brilliance and scholarship.
-Spiritual common sense is an internal balancing mechanism that allows us to see the limitations of empirical activities. It is not tied to intellectual brilliance, which can conceal our natural and higher faculties.
-Bhagavad Gita describes a Rajarshi. A Rajarshi is a philosopher-king. As a king, he is active, successful and efficient in conducting executive, legislative and judiciary powers. As a philosopher, he is a “Drshta”, who sees far into things, keeps the transcendental reality in mind and understands the limitations of his powers. This gives him spiritual common sense.
-According to Vedanta, the empirical world is transient. What we experience in everyday life is “व्यवहारिक-सत्य”, a relative reality. We need to understand that there is a transcendental reality beyond the empirical and approach pleasant and unpleasant situations in the empirical world without being affected by them. We should have a transcendental link to “परमार्थिक-सत्य.”
-Kant’s concept of duty is devoid of spiritual content and transcendental value. Kant justified righteousness based on whether it fulfilled a sense of duty – this leads to ultra-pragmatism and pursuit of empirical happiness alone. We should be able to look beyond duty and understand where pursuit for empirical happiness ought to end.
-Ishavasya Upanishad begins: “There is one transcendental, omnipresent, immortal Reality that goes beyond the empirical. After being convinced of this reality and relative nature of the empirical world, we should work hard. We can then enjoy the world by renouncing the wrong notion that empirical success is the only thing to be achieved”.
-Kalidasa’s Kumarasambhava: “Youth, money, power – each individually can lead to one’s downfall, if one has no spiritual common sense - what to speak of all three combined together.”
-Swadharma helps us translate what we know intellectually into spiritual common sense. It is impossible for the mind to remain quiet. At the same time, every action leaves an impression on the mind. Swadharma helps us get out of this conundrum by developing “rishitvam” towards life as a whole.
-Swadharma is a duty that is natural and spontaneous. It justifies its own existence and comes to us unasked by virtue of our natural qualifications. Swadharma is different from “Dharma” which is a regulating principle.
-The mind gets spiritually enriched while performing Swadharma. We feel inner contentment. We feel “I did what I ought to do”.
-Vyasa’s story is discussed. Vyasa wrote the Vedas and Mahabharata and yet was depressed. Narada advised him to write something that provides direct instruction on spiritual evolution. Vyasa wrote Bhagavata Purana and narrated the story of Lord Krishna and found inner serenity.
-Success in life is no success if one is not able to enjoy the success. Develop spiritual common sense. Understand the limits of duty and link yourself to the transcendental. Interact with the transcendental reality through Swadharma. That will give you inner contentment and take you spiritually forward.