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Of these three, it is the Gita that has been my own personal guidebook, just as it was Mahatma Gandhi’s.
Upnished: less explanation shkwing the peek ; dhammapanna: guide; gita: guide book
Their findings can be summarized in three statements which Aldous Huxley, following Leibnitz, has called the Perennial Philosophy because they appear in every age and civilization: (1) there is an infinite, changeless reality beneath the world of change; (2) this same reality lies at the core of every human personality; (3) the purpose of life is to discover this reality experientially: that is, to realize God while here on earth.
the spiritual instruction and get entangled in the question of the Gita justifying war, Gandhi had a practical answer: just base your life on the Gita sincerely and systematically and see if you find killing or even hurting others compatible with its teachings. (He
Brahman, the Godhead; Atman, the divine core of personality; dharma, the law that expresses and maintains the unity of creation; karma, the web of cause and effect; samsara, the cycle of birth and death; moksha, the spiritual liberation that is life’s supreme goal.
Western philosophers have reasoned their way to a similar conclusion, but with them it was an intellectual exercise. David
Western philosophers more logical easterns mkre experimental
In profound meditation, they found, when consciousness is so acutely focused that it is utterly withdrawn from the body and mind, it enters a kind of singularity in which the sense of a separate ego disappears. In this state, the supreme climax of meditation, the seers discovered a core of consciousness beyond time and change. They called it simply Atman, the Self.
percepts of its experience are diverse and transient; on this level of experience, separateness is real. Our mistake is in taking this for ultimate reality, like the dreamer thinking that nothing is real except his dream.
Mind experience may not be the ultimate rrslity
This does not mean, however, that the phenomenal world is an illusion or unreal. The illusion is the sense of separateness.
we never really encounter the world; all we experience is our own nervous system.
Thus the Gita places human destiny entirely in human hands. Its world is not deterministic, but neither is it an expression of blind chance:
“Yoga is evenness of mind”: detachment from the dualities of pain and pleasure, success and failure. Therefore “yoga is skill in action,” because this kind of detachment is required if one is to act in freedom, rather than merely react to events compelled by conditioning.
Act not react
You have the right to work, but never to the fruit of work. You should never engage in action for the sake of reward, nor should you long for inaction. 48 Perform work in this world, Arjuna, as a man established within himself – without selfish attachments, and alike in success and defeat. For yoga is perfect evenness of mind.
But those who realize the Self are always satisfied. Having found the source of joy and fulfillment, they no longer seek happiness from the external world.
Do not seek happiness from external world
neither people nor things can affect their security.
Never insecure
It is better to strive in one’s own dharma than to succeed in the dharma of another.
Our own mission vs another's ?
The senses are higher than the body, the mind higher than the senses; above the mind is the intellect, and above the intellect is the
Mind intellect aatman
In this sense Krishna is the inner Self in all beings. His name comes from the Sanskrit root krish, “to draw to oneself, to attract.”
Krishna is innerself
When he says, for example, “Actions do not cling to me because I am not attached to their results,” he means, “Arjuna, actions do not cling to your real Self.”
Important to read Gita as Krishna is your innerself
The awakened sages call a person wise when all his undertakings are free from anxiety about results; all his selfish desires have been consumed in the fire of knowledge.
No anxiety ; complete awareness is a sign of wise
Similarly, as long as the karma yogis do not expect reward or recognition, any evil that might stain them has nowhere to cling. Such yogis are said to be detached from the outcome or fruits of their actions (karma phala).
IS it possible to work without expectation in today's world?
judgment is clouded when wisdom is obscured by ignorance.
Fishing is not a hobby, it's killing; taking it as a hobby is ignorance
Pleasures conceived in the world of the senses have a beginning and an end and give birth to misery, Arjuna. The wise do not look for happiness in them.
Don't Be materialistic
Closing their eyes, steadying their breathing, and focusing their attention on the center of spiritual consciousness, 28 the wise master their senses, mind, and intellect through meditation. Self-realization is their only goal.
MEditation Repeatedly mentioned in buddhist and hindu texts
In the Gita, the word yogi often has a more modest definition: it can mean a person who does his or her job with detachment from the rewards (6:1), or it can be rendered as “one who has attained the goal of meditation.”
Yoga means spiritual awakening
Therefore, Arjuna, you should understand that renunciation and the performance of selfless service are the same. Those who cannot renounce attachment to the results of their work are far from the path.
Work without attachment is enough
Earth, water, fire, air, akasha, mind, intellect, and ego
Part of Prakriti Nature
Some come to the spiritual life because of suffering, some in order to understand life; some come through a desire to achieve life’s purpose, and some come who are men and women of wisdom.
To understand life!
All those who follow the spiritual path are blessed. But the wise who are always established in union, for whom there is no higher goal than me, may be regarded as my very Self.
Wisom is higher than spiritualism in Gita; same as west
Those whose understanding is small attain only transient satisfaction: those who worship the gods go to the gods. But my devotees come to me.
God worshipers attain transiet hppiness;
Of all fields of knowledge, Krishna says, he is knowledge of the Self.
Knowledge of self is Krishna
I am the beginning, middle, and end of creation. Of all the sciences I am the science of Self-knowledge, and I am logic in those who debate. 33 Among letters I am A; among grammatical compounds I am the dvandva. I am infinite time, and the sustainer whose face is seen everywhere.
Krisna definition
Neither knowledge of the Vedas, nor austerity, nor charity, nor sacrifice can bring the vision you have seen. 54 But through unfailing devotion, Arjuna, you can know me, see me, and attain union with me. 55 Those who make me the supreme goal of all their work and act without selfish attachment, who devote themselves to me completely and are free from ill will for any creature, enter into me.
Not possible to attain njrvana but possble to mke realized progress
If you cannot still your mind in me, learn to do so through the regular practice of meditation. 10 If you lack the will for such self-discipline, engage yourself in my work, for selfless service can lead you at last to complete fulfillment.
Meditation, If not then self work, if not renounce results of action
Better indeed is knowledge than mechanical practice. Better than knowledge is meditation. But better still is surrender of attachment to results, because there follows immediate peace.
Some realize the Self within them through the practice of meditation, some by the path of wisdom, and others by selfless service.
Meditation Isn't t the only way
When rajas predominates, a person
runs about pursuing selfish and greedy ends, driven by restlessness and desire.
Most woRking vlass falls in Rajas
Those who are sattvic worship the forms of God; those who are rajasic worship power and wealth. Those who are tamasic worship spirits and ghosts.
Most people fall in rajas
Sattvic people enjoy food that is mild, tasty, substantial, agreeable, and nourishing, food that promotes health, strength, cheerfulness, and longevity. 9 Rajasic people like food that is salty or bitter, hot, sour, or spicy – food that promotes pain, discomfort, and disease.
Healthy Food is one way for sattvic
Calmness, gentleness, silence, self-restraint, and purity: these are the disciplines of the mind.
In fact, he says it is impossible for anyone to “give up” in this way, for as long as we have a body, we have to do a certain amount of work just to maintain it.
Krishna tells him that devotion to his own duty is best. It is better to do one’s own work, even if imperfectly, than to try to take on some other work.
Insist on self employment
To avoid action from fear of difficulty or physical discomfort is rajasic. There is no reward in such renunciation. 9 But to fulfill your responsibilities knowing that they are obligatory, while at the same time desiring nothing for yourself – this is sattvic renunciation.
Now listen, Arjuna: there are also three kinds of happiness. By sustained effort, one comes to the end of sorrow. 37 That which seems like poison at first, but tastes like nectar in the end – this is the joy of sattva, born of a mind at peace with itself. 38 Pleasure from the senses seems like nectar at first, but it is bitter as poison in the end. This is the kind of happiness that comes to the rajasic. 39 Those who are tamasic draw their pleasures from sleep, indolence, and intoxication. Both in the beginning and in the end, this happiness is a delusion.
