Essence of The Bhagavad Gītā

Ongoing pandemic and violent racial issues made me to think deeply. I found refuge in The Bhagavad Gītā . I thought of sharing with you all, which form the basis for my future articles to come.

I unpack the Gītā, so to speak. I divide its contents into segments that, pieced together, deliver the Gītā’s message. These segments do not appear in the Gītā; they spin off from and expand the verse(s) of the Gītā that are noted at the end of each segment.

The Purpose of Life

Happiness derived from the fulfilment of worldly desires does not last. As one grows old, one realizes that everything is transient—wealth, possessions, health, and even life itself.

When money and the luxuries it can buy fail to bring lasting happiness, one begins to wonder what the cause of this discontent is. This inquiry leads to the discovery that besides the body and mind, there is another component of the human being that is less apparent and more important because it is more enduring and is always watching our activities. In spiritual texts the body-mind complex is called the Apparent Self and the more enduring component is called the Real Self. Eventually one realizes that the cause of the aforementioned discontent derives from attending to one’s Apparent rather than one’s Real Self, and that the purpose of life is to recognize this distinction and to identify oneself with one’s Real Self (cf. Bhagavad Gītā, chapter 2, verse 66, hereafter BG II:66).

Crisis of Self-Identity

We have arms and legs; our five sense organs (hearing, touch, sight, taste, and smell) are superior to those limbs because they control a wider range of activities. Our minds (which receive and store information) are superior to our sense organs because they generate and retrieve thoughts. Our intellects are superior to our minds because they process information, make decisions. However, superior to all of the foregoing is the soul which is the source of consciousness and life. It is the Real Self that was mentioned in the preceding paragraph (BG IV:242).

Who Am I?

The human soul contains a spark of the Divine, the key attributes of which are indestructibility, indivisibility, and infinity. There is but One Being, and in every hu- man soul this one and the same being permeates fully, not partially, just as the entire sun is reflected in miniature in every dewdrop.

If every human soul has the same Divine spark, then all human beings are endowed with the same potential for goodness. The knowledge, understanding, and abiding awareness of the Divine spark in every human being—the aforementioned Real Self—is the foundation of all of the human virtues (BG XV:7).

The Human Soul

Human beings move tranquilly through childhood, youth, and maturity, but old age is not welcomed, and approaching death is feared. In truth, however, all these stages should be welcomed equally, for the human soul reincarnates and repeats the same stages until it reaches its release from the physical body. When the soul reincarnates, it carries with it the impressions and inclinations that it has accumulated in its past lives (BG II:2 and II:13).

The Spiritual Quest

The physical world is constantly changing; it is a scene of perpetual perishing. Sages, however, through deep introspection, concluded that whatever ceases to exist cannot be the ultimate reality. An all-pervading consciousness, which by its nature is eternal and indestructible, can alone be the ultimate reality. We catch glimpses of this all-pervading consciousness when we encounter people who show tremendous courage, extraordinary creativity, and boundless compassion (BG II:16–17).

Different Ways for Different Temperaments

There are several paths to spiritual realization. People are born with different temperaments and tendencies: some like to be active, others reflective, others affective and engaged with their feelings, and others (the show-me types) favour experiments (let’s see what works). Spiritual paths exist for each of these four types. For the active there is the Way of Work, karma yoga; for the reflective there is the Way of Knowledge, j?ana yoga; for the affective type in whom sentiments prevail, there is the Way of Devotion, bhakti yoga; and for the experimental, let’s-see-what-works type, there is the Way of Meditation, raja yoga (BG XIII:24–25).

Work without Attachment

One does not have to renounce the world to advance spiritually—one can remain fully engaged with family, social, and professional responsibilities. All one need do is to shift one’s attention and motivation for what one does. Say one is a businessperson, attend to the duties of the day with disregard for what they will net one—that’s all that need be done. Both the ignorant and the wise may do the same work, but the ignorant act with a selfish motive, and the wise act without expectation of any material gain (BG II:47 and III:25).

Unselfish Work—a Mind Purifier

Imagine a boy playing with his dog that has a curly tail. He tries to straighten the tail, but as soon as he lets go of it, it curls up again. The parts of our lives seem to behave like that—we straighten out one component, but then a curly tail takes its place. But take heart.

Mahatma Gandhi used nonviolent means to win India’s independence from British rule. At his cottage in Sevagram a prayer meeting was held at which a verse of the Bhagavad Gītā was read. After the meetings, Gandhi would sit quietly for a few minutes with closed eyes, contemplating the verse. Many who attended those meetings were astonished to see the transformation in Gandhi’s expression. His face often wore a look of pain that reflected the sufferings of his countrymen because of the cruelty of the rulers’ deeds. After meditating on the Gītā, however, his face glowed with love and compassion for all. The secret of Gandhi’s courage, calmness, and wisdom was his ability to reconnect his consciousness with the Divine—the source of infinite strength, infinite compassion, and infinite wisdom (BG II:48 and XII:13).

When Work Becomes Worship

Constant awareness of the presence of the Universal Spirit in everything can trans- form all work into worship. The mind becomes agitated and restless only when one works with a selfish motive. Work performed in the attitude of worship of the Universal Spirit purifies and calms the mind. It is a simple way to obtain peace of mind and enduring happiness (BG XVIII:46).

The Way of Knowledge

There are many kinds of knowledge. Secular knowledge does not take us beyond the material world—the world where everything is subject to change. It is impossible to find lasting happiness in things that are impermanent.

Deep introspection reveals that there is correspondence between the human being (the microcosm) and the universe (the macrocosm). One discovers that the spiritual component in human beings is identical with the Universal Spirit that pervades the phenomenal world.

As bliss is a primary attribute of the Universal Spirit, there must be a correspond- ing reservoir of happiness within all human beings. Those who seek enduring happi- ness must therefore guide their actions in the light of constant awareness of the divine presence in everything.

The journey toward spiritual realization is beset with hindrances as well as helps, and an uncontrolled mind is one of the major hindrances. It is not easy to discipline an unsteady mind, but constant awareness of one’s identity with the Supreme Spirit is a tremendous source of strength, wisdom, and perseverance (BG XVIII:20 and XVIII:37).

Imprisoned in a Cage

Some desires must be met to keep us alive—the desires for food, water, and clothing. But our desires do not stop there and striving for these additional desires does not bring us closer to lasting contentment. Superfluous desires are better called cravings. We become angry when our cravings are not fulfilled. Greed is the food that sustains cravings and feeds the ego. The ego is the cheerleader of cravings—it enshrines self- conceit, possessiveness, and jealousy (BG XVI:12–16).

The Anatomy of Human Descent

An uncontrolled mind, always craving gratification of sense pleasures, leads to disastrous consequences. Imagine a sense object that comes to one’s attention. A desire arises to possess and enjoy that object. These thoughts create attachments and eventually craving. If the craving is not fulfilled, one becomes frustrated and angry, and angry people lose the capacity to discriminate between right and wrong, which in turn leads to a ruined life.

Spirituality begins with controlling one’s desires and anger, which requires rigorous vigilance. Imagine that two notorious burglars, Desire and Anger, succeed in sneaking into a house—the burglars are adept at stealing the jewels of peace and happiness. The task of protecting those jewels which are within each one of us begins with control of the mind (BG II:62–63).

Intellect over Mind

The mind is inherently extroverted. The five sense organs continuously bombard the mind with messages from the outer world, and these messages create an uninterrupted flow of thought waves. This is the reason why an uncontrolled mind is never free from the propensities of desire, aversion, and anger. However, these propensities are obstructions for the ripening of wisdom; so it is essential to learn to interrupt this flow of thoughts by withdrawing the sense organs at will from their sense objects. To achieve the capacity to do this, the intellect must learn to exercise its supremacy over the mind.

Withdrawing the senses from sense objects enables the intellect to withhold identification with the mind’s activities. This is how spiritual aspirants develop the art of non-cooperation with the mind. When the mind counsels returning injury with injury, the intellect exercises its veto power and recommends returning injury with pardon. When the mind advises returning hatred with hatred, the intellect can decide to return wrongdoings with love and compassion.

However, even though withdrawing the senses from sense desires frees one from those desires, the taste for them lingers. Even the taste for worldly desires drops away when one directly experiences the Divine (BG II:58–59).

From Knowledge to Wisdom

Theoretical knowledge of the nature of the mind and how to control the mind is not enough. The spiritual path is slippery, and it does no good simply to carry the staff of knowledge-that-leads-to-wisdom—one must use that staff to steady oneself.

To change the analogy, the journey from knowledge to wisdom can be compared to the flight of a jet plane that struggles through thunderstorms at lower altitudes before reaching clear blue skies, where it flies smoothly and seemingly effortlessly (BG II:56).

From Wisdom to Peace

The attainment of wisdom is the hardest part of the spiritual journey. When that is accomplished, spiritual realization is very near.

A wise person is like an ocean that remains unmoved when rivers, even mighty one likes the Amazon, enter it. Having brought the mind under control, the wise person re- mains absorbed in the realm of spiritual consciousness where worldly desires knock but cannot enter. They are unswervingly aware of the fact that indestructibility, undivided consciousness, and bliss are the attributes of the Supreme Spirit (BG II:64 and II:70).

Which Is the Better Way?

Looking at a necklace of pearls, the eyes of the ignorant see pearls of different sizes and shapes, but they do not see the string that holds the pearls together. Something similar to that happens to a beginner who is seeking knowledge of the existence of the Supreme Spirit. The spiritual search leads to the discovery that actually there is no place in the universe where the Supreme Spirit is absent. In fact, like pearls of a necklace, the whole universe is pervaded and held together by the indwelling presence of one and the same Spirit.

It is possible but extremely difficult to comprehend the Divine Reality through knowledge alone. The prerequisite for attaining steady wisdom is a pure mind; but purification of the mind is a slow and arduous task, requiring virtues like truthfulness, honesty, and compassion.

The Way of Unselfish Work and the Way of Knowledge are two of the four ways for purifying the mind. The Way of Meditation and the Way of Devotion are the other two. Each of the ways enables the aspirant to realize the Spiritual Unity behind the apparent diversity in the universe. They are four paths to the same summit (BG V:1 and V:4).

The Way of Meditation

Those who are following either the Way of Knowledge or the Way of Unselfish Work soon discover that cravings of the mind for worldly pleasures are the greatest obstacle to spiritual realization. It is the habit of the mind to wander around in the outside world all the time. That habit can be broken by shifting the mind to the in- dwelling consciousness whose bliss can be attained by deep contemplation, succinctly known as meditation.

Spiritual bliss is far superior to the transient pleasures of everyday life, and meditation is the gate that opens that bliss to us. The indwelling Spirit can be experienced by cutting the chains that bind us to the world of matter, and it is meditation that does the cutting.

To change the analogy, the mind is like a lake, and stones that are dropped into it raise waves. Those waves do not let us see who we are. A full moon may be reflected in the water of the lake, but if the lake’s surface is troubled we do not see the moon clearly. The waters must be calmed. If one remains quiet, eventually the winds that ruffle the water will give up, and then one knows who one is. God is constantly within us, but the mind obscures that fact with agitated waves of worldly desires. Meditation quiets those waves (BG V:28).

Preparation for Meditation

The powers of the human mind tend to be dissipated like rays of light. Scientists have shown us that it is possible to unlock the secrets of nature by the powers of concentrated minds. Likewise, by using the mind as a powerful instrument mystic have been able to discover profound spiritual truths. As we have seen, meditation is the method by which human beings can learn how to control and empower their minds for the spiritual journey.

The prerequisite for meditation is a firm resolve to adhere to moral values that help to purify the mind—truthfulness, noninjury, and non-covetousness. This resolve prepares one to mount the steps that ascend toward meditation. The first of these is purity, internal and external. The second step involves relaxing the mind by breathing rhythmically, prānāyāma. The final step is to withdraw the mind from the senses that monitor the external world and turn it toward the object of one’s concentration (BG VI:12).

Meditation—the Method

Meditation needs something to focus on. It can be the manifestation of Divinity in religious symbol, in a human form, or in nature, such as a snow-covered mountain, a serene lake in moonlight, or a colourful horizon at sunrise or sunset. The focus can also be holy words or syllables that are intoned as mantras and rhythmically repeated—the repetitions can be audible, inaudible (lips move but no sound is uttered), or mental (contemplation on the meaning of the mantra).

In the state of deep meditation the mind is completely detached from the outgoing senses and is fully submerged in the indwelling Divine Spirit, which in full glory is reflected in the mind only when it is totally free of all disturbances. When the mind loses all sense of being a separate identity, it enters samādhi, a superconscious state where one savours bliss that endures. Success in reaching this state and making it endure can be achieved with practice (BG VI:18–19 and VI:21–22).

The Way of Devotion

Whether one follows the path of knowledge, or unselfish work, or meditation, the spiritual journey is difficult—it is like crossing mountain ranges by driving a car over a zigzagging road with numerous curves and many ups and downs.

But if one is impatient to complete the journey, there is another way. In this analogy there is a shortcut, a tunnel that cuts through the base of the mountain. In the spiritual journey this shortcut is called the Way of Devotion. Before one enters this tunnel, the wayfarer must have faith that there will be light at its end. This way is for those who have emotional temperaments suitable for developing intense love and deep yearning (BG VIII:22; IX:31 and IX:34).

Love and Devotion

The spiritualized mind, also known as the pure heart, is the seat of Divine emo- tions. Spiritual seekers of emotional temperament adore Divinity and seek heart unity with their chosen Divine ideal. Only a devotee with a pure heart can achieve it. Un- conditional love is a potent purifier of the heart’s emotions because it washes away the desire for trivial and transient objects.

Emotional devotees’ water the plant of devotion with tears of love. In true love, every act of the devotee becomes an act of worship (BG IX:26).

The Merging of the Ways

When one sees the entire universe as pervaded by the single Universal Spirit, one contemplates, marvels, and falls in love with its amazing glory. This love eventually turns into deep devotion and an intense yearning for direct knowledge of the Supreme Reality.

Moved by the intensity of one’s devotion, one’s chosen ideal will at last grant one a direct experience of the Supreme Reality, which is likewise the Supreme Truth. Having experienced that Truth oneself, all doubts are dispelled. This is how the flower of devotion evolves into the fruit of knowledge. When the paths of knowledge and devotion come together, they intermingle and strengthen each other. True devotion merges with true knowledge. One cannot truly know anything that one does not truly love (BG X:10–11).

The Power of Maya

Imagine a child playing by the side of a pond that is covered by algae. He pushes the algae aside to see the water beneath it. As soon as he glimpses the water, a puff of wind covers the water with algae again. He repeats his act again and again with the same result. Finally he tires of the game and turns away. The spiritual aspirant who wants to climb to the top of the mountain of self-realization without help will have a similar experience.

The truth of the matter is that one’s own efforts are not sufficient to keep the mind in a steady state. Work without attachment to results can protect the mind from sensory dis- tractions, but the imagined desires will still arise in the mind and disturb its tranquillity. Even these imagined desires however, subside when the mind tastes the Divine bliss.

One seems to be caught in a vicious circle—without the Divine nectar, minds do not become completely pure, and without completely purified minds, the reservoir of Divine nectar is inaccessible. One waits, hoping that at some point success will be attained (BG VII:14).

Overcoming Hurdles

Self-effort is not enough to overcome all the hurdles that arise in the spiritual jour- ney. Who would dare to leap across deep chasms, wade through rushing torrents, and climb across razor-sharp cliffs without help from others?

Like fast-moving clouds covering the sun, agitations of the mind are always ready to disturb the intellect. Delusions of the mind cannot be completely overcome by self- effort. The only way to overcome those delusions is to seek refuge in the Supreme Spirit with unyielding faith. It is important not to let one’s pride and egotism bar one from the total surrender to the Supreme (BG XVIII:58 and XVIII: 66).

Self-Surrender and Divine Grace

A camel eats thorny brambles and its mouth bleeds. This does not keep him away from those brambles because the camel cannot control its nature. Bound by their nature, human beings likewise suffer innumerable sorrows, and no matter how hard they try, they are unable to free themselves from the shackles of the world. The only way out is to seek Divine help and surrender oneself to its ministrations (BG XVIII:62).

Arriving at the Destination

Spiritual life is about the spiritualizing of knowledge, love, and work. It proceeds through human effort supported by Divine grace. As a familiar Hindu adage has it, the winds of God’s love are constantly blowing, but one must raise one’s sail. Still, the question remains: to reach what destination?

Destinations are the termini of journeys that have starting points. Physicists think that the universe began with the Big Bang, but what caused that Bang? Mystics say that it was God, the heart that beats in the body of the universe. In “East Coker,” T. S. Eliot notes that “our end is in our beginning,” and sages in India coined a composite word to describe the end that is also the beginning, sat-chit-ānanda: Truth, Consciousness, and Bliss. It is important to keep in mind that these are not three things; they are three attributes of the single Reality. And thus, the conclusion of this journey through the Bhagavad Gītā is Truth, Consciousness, and Bliss (BG XVIII:65).

References:

1) Huston Smith's forward for The Bhagavad Gītā - WINTHROP SARGEANT