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 This weeks Bhagavad-Gita wisdom 
The Bhagavad-Gita course
Held over 4 consecutive Mondays from 7:30 to 9:30pm in Govindas Lotus Room. Timetable :
August course: August 4th, 11th, 18th, 25th.
Cost: $90 inlcuding a hard bound copy of the Bhagavad-Gita.
Pre-booking is essential as personalised attention is priority & sessions are restricted to small numbers. To book phone Tony on 0425 333 086 or book online by clicking here .
The Bhagavad-Gita is universally renowned as India's jewel of spiritual wisdom. It provides a definitive guide to the science of self-realisation. No other philosophical or spiritual work reveals, in such a lucid and profound way, the nature of consciousness, the self, the universe and the Supreme.
This book is the most influential and widely read work in Indian philosophy. This timeless wisdom leads to illumination of the self through transcendental knowledge. Through its sublime teachings we are able to transcend all the problems we encounter in our lives and live a life of perfect peace and harmony.
“ In this world there is nothing so sublime and pure as transcendental knowledge. Such knowledge is the mature fruit of all mysticism. And one who has achieved this enjoys the self within himself in due course of time.” Bhagavad-Gita, chapter 4, text 38.
“ This knowledge is the king of education, the most secret of all secrets. It is the purest knowledge, and because it gives direct perception of the self by realization, it is the perfection of religion. It is everlasting, and it is joyfully performed.” Bhagavad-Gita, chapter 9, text 2.
Bhagavad-Gita Course Week one:
Preamble:
The post graduate study of the science of self-realization – a complete & perfect systematic philosophy – logical, rational & highly sophisticated – the E=MC2 of spiritual knowledge
The king of education – ch 9 mantra 1
Sublime & pure – ch 4 mantra 38
Very rare – ch7 mantra 19-“ sa mahatma sudurlabhah”
Illuminating - like the sun dissipates the darkness when it rises & one can see things as they are ch 5 mantra 16
 (1) Historical context
Factual, not mythical or allegorical
The Gita is the philosophical essence of the Mahabharat
(2) Navigational tools
A conversation between Krsna & Arjuna who often address
one another by various “nick names”
Sanskrit texts, transliterations, word for word definitions,
translations, purports, glossaries & indexes explained
(3) Direct-v-indirect interpretation
Indirect method is speculative & invariably leads to a
Justification & rationalization of ones life style & desires
(4) Guru parampara:– disciplic succession - ch 4 mantra 2
There are 4 recognized disciplic successions in existence
The spiritual master (guru) – ch 4 mantra 34 - perfect knowledge – perfect transmission
Not subject to the 4 defects of the conditioned souls –
(a) propensity to cheat (b) imperfect sense (c) subject to illusion(d) propensity to make mistakes
(5) 5 broad topics of analysis-
(a) jiva-atma – the spiritual self
(b) param atma – the supreme spirit
(c) prakrti – material nature
(d) kala – time
(e) karma & re-incarnation
The relationship between (a) & (b) is the subject matter of the yoga system.(yoga means to link or connect – the connection of the self & the supreme self in a spiritual union)
The yoga system
(a) jnana yoga – the cultivation of spiritual knowledge(ch 4)
(b) karma yoga –renunciation of the fruits of action(ch 3&5)
(c) dhyana yoga – transcendental meditation (ch6)
(d) bhakti yoga – the awakening of pure love & devotion to
the supreme & the ultimate goal of the yoga system (ch 12)
 (6) Chapter one
Setting the scene
Arjuna’s moral arguments against fighting
(7) ) Jiva- atma – the spirit soul:
The nature of the self – the 2 first aphorisms of the Vedanta sutras -
“aham brahmasmi” – I am spirit – consciousness is the symptom of the soul
“athato brahma jignasur” – now that I have attained to this rare human form of life let me enquire into brahman (spirit)
The soul - ch 2 mantras 11-30
sat-eternal: cit-full of knowledge: ananda-purely blissful.
This pure nature of the self has become covered over by “material contamination” through our associations in the material world like the uncared for mirror becomes covered by dust & loses its essence of reflectivity or the pure water H20 falling from the sky becomes contaminated by the elements it mixes with on the ground – the path of spiritual realization is akin to the distilling of water to return it to its original purity or wiping all the dust off the mirror so you can see you true reflection. It is the process of purifying the self – washing the consciousness so the true beauty of the soul can be revealed. The soul is transcendentally situated in the region of the heart
1/10,000 the tip of a hair - the smallest particle
6 symptoms of the presence of the soul –
(1) birth (2) growth (3) maintenance (4) production of bi-products (5) deterioration/dwindling (6) death
 The gross material body comprising the 5 material elements-
(earth, water, fire, air, ether.) ch 7 manra 4
described as a machine – ch 18 mantra 61
(car & driver of car example – the maintenance manual being the ayur veda – designed to last 100 years with proper servicing)
The astral body comprising the subtle body & its functions–
mind – (thinking, feeling & willing)
intelligence – ( the power of discrimination)
ego – ( the function of self identification-the next door neighbour to the soul)
real ego –v- false ego
Identification will determine ones actions & the direction of ones life –
bodily identification – physical materialistic pursuits
mind/intelligence identification – philosophical & mental pursuits
soul identification – spiritual pursuits
The relationship between the subtle body & the brain.
According to the Vedic text Gita Mahatmya, the study of the Bhagavad-Gita -
(1) frees one from all stress, anxiety, fears & miseries
(2) frees one from karmic reactions
(3) purifies the consciousness & induces a state of pure transcendental happiness
(4) is all the knowledge required to attain to self realization
(5) prepares one to return to the spiritual world Week two:
Sankya philosophy - the analytical study of the material world:
the 24 material elements
Subtle
maha tattva
ego
intelligence
mind
Gross
knowledge
material sense acquiring active
element objects senses senses
(1) ether (1) sound (1) ears (1) hands
(2) air (2) touch (2) skin (2) legs
(3) fire (3) form (3) eyes (3) voice
(4) water (4) taste (4) tongue (4) genitals
(5) earth (5) smell (5) nose (5) anus
The 3 modes of material nature
Material nature consists of the 3 modes which conditions the eternal living entity (Gita-ch 14 mantra 5)
The three modes are always competing for supremacy, and a combination of these three modes influence and control the actions of the living entity. The permutations and combinations of the three modes of material nature results in an infinite variety of manifestations & variations just as the 3 primary colours (red, yellow and blue) mix to create an infinite colour spectrum.
 Everyone one is forced to act helplessly according to the impulses born of the modes of material nature.
(Gita-ch 3 mantra 5)
The bewildered spirit soul, under the influence of the 3 modes of material nature, thinks himself to be the doer of activities, which are in actuality carried out by nature.
(Gita-ch 3 mantra 27)
free will - v - determinism
The material world is perceived as a place of suffering
although material happiness is there, it is temporary and limited
and accordingly is never fully satisfying.
And there is ever present the 4 absolutes of suffering –
(1) birth
(2) death
(3) old age
(4) disease.
Combined with this is the misery and suffering caused by the constant harassment of the 3 fold miseries –
(1) adhyatmic – suffering of the mind & body
(2) adhydaivic – miseries caused by material nature
(3) adhybaultic – suffering caused by other living entities
From the highest planet in the material world down to the lowest, all are places of misery wherein repeated birth and death take place. (Gita-ch 8 mantra 16) The fundamental underlying principle of the material world is sex desire– the attraction between the male and female principle - both gross and subtle. subtle sex desire is manifested in the desire for profit, adoration and distinction.
We are currently residing in the material world, which is comprised of innumerable universes. There is life throughout the universe, and there are different standards of living and different durations of life on these planets. Within this universe you can elevate yourself to celestial planets through pious activities (in the mode of goodness), where the enjoyment experienced is much greater than here on Earth. Through impious activities (in the mode of ignorance primarily) one can be degraded to the subterranean planets where suffering is the primary experience
Karma & Re-incarnation:
 Karma - “As you sow, so shall you reap.” “He who lives by the sword, dies by the sword.”
The principles of karma and re-incarnation formed a apart of early Christian theology but was removed from official church doctrine in the 4th century on the insistence of the Roman Emperor Justinian at the council of Nicea whose thinking was that if people thought they had more than one life then they would be inclined to take it “spiritually easy” in this life on the principle of why do today what you can put off 'till tomorrow.
Every action one performs attracts a karmic reaction, a similar principle to the law of physics that for every action there is an equal & opposite reaction.
We enjoy or suffer in the future the results of our present actions and we are enjoying or suffering now as a result of previous activities performed, not only in this life but in previous lives as well. We cannot escape the past which invariably comes back to haunt us. We are tightly bound up by the stringent laws of material nature.
Thoughts do not attract a karmic reaction. Only when thoughts are translated in to action does the law of karma take effect.
Broadly speaking activities which are beneficial and auspicious attract good karma whereas actions which are harmful and cause suffering and pain produces bad karma.
Only in the human form does the living entity have the power to make moral choices which makes us responsible for our actions and thus attracts the law of karma. In all other species of life one is forced to act according to the body he has and thus karma does not accrue. Karma does not apply to the actions of a child whose ability to make moral choices is severely restricted. Re-incarnation – transmigration of the soul
“As the embodied soul continually passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. a sober person is not bewildered by such a change.” (Gita-ch 2 mantra 13)
“Whatever state of being one remembers when he quits his body that state he will attain without fail.” (Gita-ch 8 mantra 6)
The eternal soul transmigrates in an evolutionary process through the 8,400,000 species of life. In sanskrit this is called “samsara”-the wheel of birth and death. “The living entity in the material world carries his different conceptions of life from one body to another as the air carries aromas.” (Gita-ch 15 mantra 8)
The astral body (mind, intelligence & ego) accompanies the soul in its sojourn through the species.
Kala – time
 “Time I am, destroyer of the worlds.” (Gita-ch 11 mantra 32)
Time is eternal.
Relativity of time discussed. Our life is like a lightining flash in eternal time.
Universal time frame – The life span of this universe is 311 trillion & 40 billion earth years. (Gita-ch 8 mantra 17)
We are approximately 160 trillion years in.
Week three:
The sojourn of the soul (in the material world)
The material world is fundamentally a place of suffering.
In Sanskrit it is called “kuntha”- The world of anxiety.
The spiritual world is called “vaikuntha” – The place where there is no anxiety.
The atma (soul) in its original pure state, before contacting the material energy, exists eternally in a state of infinite pure love and bliss.
The satcitananda quality of the atma is covered over by the influence of the material energy which bewilders the living entity and deludes him – “All living entities are born into delusion, overcome by the dualities of desire and hate.” (Bhagavad-Gita, chapter 7, mantra 27)
“As fire is covered by smoke, as a mirror is covered by dust, or as the embryo is covered by the womb, the living entity is covered by different degrees of lust.”
(Bhagavad-Gita, chapter 3, mantra 38)
“The living entities pure consciousness is covered by his eternal enemy in the form of lust, which is never satisfied and which burns like fire.”
(Bhagavad-Gita, chapter 3, mantra 39)
She is a cruel master. Trying to satisfy material desires is like pouring oil on a fire. Initially the fire abates but shortly thereafter flames up even more
“The senses, the mind and the intelligence are the sitting places of this lust, which veils the real knowledge of the living entity and bewilders him.”
(Bhagavad-Gita, chapter 3, mantra 40)
Because the state of pure blissful consciousness is our original nature, we are always searching out permanent unlimited happiness, love and knowledge. Unfortunately, we are looking for it in the wrong place, the material world. We are searching out water in the desert which appears as a mirage but has no substance. Like a fish out of the water we do not belong in this material world. Only when we experience happiness, love and knowledge unlimitedly and eternally can we become fully satisfied – until then our journey does not end. “Thus we meet with good and evil amongst the various species.”
Modern western culture teachers us that happiness is to be obtained by the external journey whereas the Bhagavad-Gita teaches us to journey “within” to experience the true beauty and glory of the self.
“One whose happiness is within, who is active within, who rejoices within & is illumined within is the perfect transcendentalist”
(Bhagavad-Gita, chapter 5, mantra 24) “ A person who is not disturbed by the incessant flow of desires – that enter like rivers into the ocean, which is ever being filled but is always still – can alone achieve peace, and not the man who strives to satisfy such desires.”
(Bhagavad-Gita, chapter 2, mantra 70)
“One who is not in transcendental consciousness can have neither a controlled mind nor steady intelligence, without which there is no possibility of peace. And how can there be any happiness without peace.”
(Bhagavad-Gita, chapter 2, mantra 66)
“ A person who has given up all desires for sense gratification, who lives free from desires, who has given up all sense of proprietorship and is devoid of false ego-he alone can attain real peace.”
(Bhagavad-Gita, chapter 2, mantra 71) The psychology of action
While contemplating the objects of the senses, a person develops attachment for them –
and from such attachment lust develops –
and from lust anger arises –
from anger complete delusion arises –
and from delusion bewilderment of memory –
when memory is bewildered, intelligence is lost –
and when intelligence is lost one falls down again into the material pool. (Bhagavad-Gita, chapter 2, mantras 62-63)
Happiness in the material world centres around the fantasies and concoctions of the mind;
We chase our dreams and aspirations.
We fall short - we become frustrated, angry, depressed. We failed.
We succeed - we become frustrated, angry, depressed. We thought achieving our dreams would make us happy, but they did not. No amount of material pleasure can satisfy the spiritual self.
And ultimately in the material world all our desires, plans and aspirations are vanquished by the time factor.
“ An intelligent person does not take part in the sources of misery, which are due to contact with the material senses. Such pleasures have a beginning and an end, and so the wise man does not delight in them.”
(Bhagavad-Gita, chapter 5, mantra 22)
Whatever is acheived on the material platform will be destroyed and thus, in the end, life in the material world ends in tragedy. The transcendentalist sees the ultimate futility of all material endeavor and thus is not a participant in the “world of dreams.” He sees his real life is in the spiritual world. He perceives the material world as a prison house or reformatory institution for the rectification of renegade souls, a place not designed as a “garden of delights” for the unlimited pleasure of the inmates.
The sojourn of the soul (spiritual)
 Arjuna asks Krishna what are the symptoms of one whose consciousness is merged in transcendence?
(Bhagavad-Gita, chapter 2, mantra 54)
Krishna replies – (Bhagavad-Gita, chapter 2, mantras 55-58)
(1) He has no desire for sense gratification which arise from mental concoction.
(2) His mind is pure and finds satisfaction in the self alone.
(3) His mind is not disturbed even amidst the threefold miseries.
(4) He is free from –
(a) attachment and aversion
(b) fear
(c) anger
(5) He has complete control over his senses and is able to withdraw his senses from sense objects.
(as a tortoise draws its limbs within the shell)
(6) Has given up all sense of proprietorship. (mantra 71)
(7) Devoid of false ego. (mantra 71)
In the 6th chapter, mantras 20-23 Krishna describes the consciousness of one who has attained perfection in self-realization –
(1) One enters “samadhi” where one’s mind is completely restrained from material mental activities.
(2) One can see the self by the pure mind and rejoice and relish in the self.
(3) One is situated in boundless transcendental happiness and bliss, realized through transcendental senses.
(4) One is completely free from all anxieties and miseries arising from material contact.
(5) One sees the truth and never departs from the truth. “The humble sage, by virtue of true knowledge, sees with equal vision a learned & gentle saint, a cow, an elephant, a dog & a dog eater.
(Bhagavad-Gita, chapter 5, mantra 18)) When one is situated in ones original pure spiritual consciousness the following 26 transcendental qualities become manifest in ones nature –
“Fearlessness, purification of one’s existence, cultivation of spiritual knowledge, charity, self-control, performance of sacrifice, study of the Vedas, austerity and simplicity; non-violence, truthfulness, freedom from anger; renunciation, tranquillity, aversion to fault finding, compassion and freedom from covetousness; gentleness, modesty and steady determination; vigour, forgiveness, fortitude, cleanliness, freedom from envy and the passion for honour”
(Bhagavad-Gita, chapter 16, mantras 1-3)
“When your intelligence has passed out of the dense forest of delusion, you shall become indifferent to all that has been heard and all that is to be heard.”
(Bhagavad-Gita, chapter 2, mantra 52)
Control of the mind and senses
To advance on the spiritual path one must bring the mind and senses under control.
“Thus knowing oneself to be transcendental to the material senses, mind and intelligence, one should control the lower self by the higher self and thus by spiritual strength – conquer the insatiable enemy known as lust.” .
(Bhagavad-Gita, chapter 3, mantra 43)
Arjuna said: “O Madhusüdana, the system of yoga which You have summarized appears impractical and unendurable to me, for the mind is restless and unsteady.”
(Bhagavad-Gita, chapter 6, mantra 33)
“For the mind is restless, turbulent, obstinate and very strong, O Krishna, and to subdue it, I think, is more difficult than controlling the wind.”
(Bhagavad-Gita, chapter 6, mantra34)
“Lord Sri Krishna said: O mighty-armed son of Kunti, it is undoubtedly very difficult to curb the restless mind, but it is possible by suitable practice and by detachment.”
(Bhagavad-Gita, chapter 6, mantra 35)
“As a lamp in a windless place does not waver, so the transcendentalist, whose mind is controlled, remains always steady in his meditation on the transcendent self.”
(Bhagavad-Gita, chapter 6, mantra 19)
“Those who are on this path are resolute in purpose and their aim is one. The intelligence of those who are irresolute is many-branched.”
(Bhagavad-Gita, chapter 2, mantra 41)
“One who is not in transcendental consciousness can have neither a controlled mind nor steady intelligence, without which there is no possibility of peace. And how can there be any happiness without peace.”
(Bhagavad-Gita, chapter 2, mantra 66)
The eight fold yoga system
To appreciate Yoga as a science you need to understand where all those stretching and natural health techniques in Yoga are coming from.
Basically these techniques are coming from the Astanga Yoga system and Astanga Yoga ultimately leads one to Bhakti-yoga. Astanga Yoga means "eightfold" and includes yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, pratyahara, dhyana, dharana and then Samadhi.
"Yama" and "Niyama" are the first steps in the yoga process and are often neglected in these other "abbreviated" yoga systems.
 "Yama" means rejecting that which is unfavorable to our yoga advancement. In the
Srimad Bhagavatam 3.28.1 purport by Srila Prabhupada
he states that there
are four prohibited activities for making spiritual advancement - [meat-eating, illicit sex, intoxication, and gambling].
This is the essence of "Yama" in the Astanga Yoga practice.
"Niyama" means accepting that which is favorable for our advancement in Yoga-following the rules and regulations prescribed in the Vedas.
"Asana" is the stretching exercises and practicing the sitting postures we see in the Hatha-yoga, Raja-yoga, and other yoga systems.
"Pranayama" is the breathing exercises we see in some yoga systems.
“Pratyahara”- is controlling the mind and the senses.
“Dharana” - Concentration on object. Concentration of the mind on one object and its field.
“Dhyana” - Deep, steady meditation
“Samadhi” is trance or total enlightenment.
Patanjali explains that the target of all yoga is Visnu or Krishna. Astanga-yoga is therefore part of a spiritual practice because its ultimate goal is realization of Visnu or God. Success in yoga is not the acquisition of mystic powers, but rather the achievement of freedom from all material designations and spiritual enlightenment. This is the ultimate perfection of practicing yoga. |
