Hinduism and the Bhagavad Gita

Quick Look at Hinduism Hinduism is an inclusive religion rather than the unified, exclusive religion common in the West. It is a composite of many beliefs and practices. One might call it an umbrella religion because of open mind to all religions; Hinduism absorbs rather than rejects the religions of others. Hindus believe that all religions are partially true in that each religion is an attempt to seek that which is ultimately true and freeing. Hinduism is a polytheistic religion in theory and theology. A theme of diversity in unity has helped Hinduism to incorporate many forms of spirituality. Within Hinduism there are more than 330 million gods, enough for each family and person to have and worship his own god. Therefore, Hinduism is often monotheistic in practice: generally one god is worshipped at a time. In Hinduism, there is a belief in a trinity or god-head, made up of the three most important gods: a. Brahma, the Creator, made the world and, having completed that task, is above and beyond worship. b. Vishnu, the Preserver, has the duty to uphold order, and as part of that duty, takes on bodily and historical forms (incarnations) in the world: Rama, Krishna, and the Buddha are the most famous. c. Shiva, the Destroyer, aids humans in liberating themselves from this world. Shiva destroys the old in order that the new has a chance for life. The hope of Hinduism is that we can each be liberated from the restraints of the physical world. This release, known as MOKSHA, frees us from the cycle (SAMSARA) of incarnations (new body forms). As long as we have the need or wish for worldly things, we will reincarnate after death. There are four basic Paths (MARGAS) to MOKSHA (Liberation of the Soul to Eternity) because there are four basic types of human beings: Intellectual, Emotional, Active, and Psychological. Jnana Yoga -The path through the Intellect and Knowledge -- Cognitive Aspect of Mankind Discovering that God (Brahman) is identical with myself (Atman) When I think purely and intensely, I can find that the God inside is the God of all things. Bhakti Yoga -The path through Dedication and Love -- Emotional/Affective Discovering that God is an "other" being who we love and worship unconditionally When I love purely and firmly I can love the God in all men and all things Karma Yoga -The path to God through good works -- Charity leads to charitableness Discovering God in the things I do for others can be motivated by Jnanic or Bhaktic inclinations Raja Yoga -- The path to God through Intense Psychological Exercises -- Meditation

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Eliminating vices -- ahimsa (non-violence), lying, stealing, sensuality, and greed Adopting virtues -- cleanliness, contentment, self-control, studiousness, contemplation of divine Practicing Asanas -- postures (lotus position) which will quiet "lower" bodily impulses Breath control -- controlling the thorax's ability to be disruptive Cutting oneself off from the "head" senses-- sight, taste, hearing, seeing, smelling Leave the mind alone to concentrate unswervingly towards an object; stop thinking about being a thinker Merge the subject and the object into one -- the distinctions are no longer important

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Realize that the difference between subject and object is not important -- Samadhi (being one with the universe Hatha Yoga -The path to Physical Fitness (bodily Aspect of Mankind) will not release us from this world. The Four Stages (ASRAMA) of Life --- Student -- learn both religious and secular truths --- Householder -- marriage, children, gain fortune --- Retirement -- use fortune to help others --- Renunciation -- move away from the world of possessions to learn what it's like in eternity where we are tied to nothing- not material goods, not passions, not time, not family The four states/castes (VARNAS) of society: Priestly caste with greatest gifts and most to give up Governing caste which administers the government, leads the Armies

Brahmacarya Grihasthya Vanaprasthya Samnyasa

Brahmins: Kshatriyas:

Hinduism and the Bhagavad Gita

Vaishyas: Business caste which owns, produces, and distributes goods Sudras: Worker caste which does blue-collar jobs and small business tasks Pariahs: The out-castes who do jobs which decent people wouldn't think of doing. Mahatma Gandhi called these people the "Children of God" (Harijan)

The following are the closing verses of the second chapter of the Bhagavad Gita ("Song of the Lord"), India's best-known scripture, a masterpiece of world poetry on which countless mystics have drawn for daily practical guidance. This second chapter of the Bhagavad Gita, called the Gita by most Hindus, ends with a description of the highest state of consciousness a human being can attain. The Gita is a dialogue between Sri Krishna, an incarnation of the Lord, and his friend and disciple Arjuna, a warrior prince who represents anyone trying to live a spiritual life in the midst of worldly activity and conflict. Mahatma Gandhi: When doubts haunt me, when disappointments stare me in the face, and I see not one ray of hope on the horizon, I turn to the Bhagavad Gita and find a verse to comfort me; and I immediately begin to smile in the midst of overwhelming sorrow. Those who meditate on the Gita will derive fresh joy and new meanings from it every day. For more than 50 years, Gandhi meditated on the following portions of the Bhavagad Gita morning and night and devoted all his effort to translating them into his daily action. They are the key to his self transformation.

THE SCENE IN THIS PORTION OF THE STORY: When your love is deep enough, Sri Krishna tells Arjuna, every selfish attachment falls away, and with it all frustration, all insecurity, all despair. Arjuna asks enthusiastically: How can I recognize such a person when I see him? Tell me how he acts, how he conducts himself

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when under attack. The Bhagavad Gita The Illumined Man Arjuna:
Tell me of the man who lives in wisdom, Ever aware of the Self, O Krishna; How does he talk, how sit, how move about? Sri Krishna: He lives in wisdom Who sees himself in all and all in him, Whose love for the Lord of Love has consumed Every selfish desire and sense-craving Tormenting the heart. Not agitated By grief nor hankering after pleasure, He lives free from lust and fear and anger Fettered no more by selfish attachments, He is not elated by good fortune Nor depressed by bad. Such is the seer. When you keep thinking about sense-objects, Attachment comes. Attachment breeds desire, The lust of possession which, when thwarted, Burns to anger. Anger clouds the judgment And robs you of the power to learn from past mistakes Lost is the discriminative faculty, And your life is utter waste. But when you move amidst the world of sense From both attachment and aversion freed, There comes the peace in which all sorrows end, And you live in the wisdom of the Self. The disunited mind is far from wise; How can it meditate? How be at peace? When you know no peace, how can you know joy? When you let your mind follow the Siren call Of the senses, they carry away Your better judgment as a cyclone drives a boat Off the charted course to its doom. He is forever free who has broken out Of the ego-cage of I and mine To be united with the Lord of Love. This is the supreme state. Attain thou this And pass from death to immortality.

The principal of meditation is that you become what you meditate on.

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Gandhi meditated with an undivided singleness of mind on the ideal of the Bhagavad Gita: the man who renounces everything for love of serving others, and lives in freedom and joy. Gandhi believed that the last eighteen verses of the Second Chapter of the Gita give in a nutshell the secret of the art of living: these verses of the Second Chapter have since been inscribed on the tablet of my heart. They contain for me all knowledge.

Eknath Easwaran, Bhagavad Gita for Daily Living (Petaluma, California: Nilgiri Press, 197585) Eknath Easwaran, Gandhi the Man ( Petaluma, California: Nilgiri Press, 1978)