Tuesday, July 7, 2009

A Tribute to Michael Jackson 7/7/09

We have all been bombarded and inundated with the news of Michael Jackson - The King of Pop passing so suddenly on June 25, 2009. The posts of this site has mostly been a review of yogic texts like the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali and the Bhagavad Gita. So one might think it odd to see this post regarding Michael Jackson.

With Michael passing so suddenly, it was like a wake up call to me (and the world). It brings the role of death very much to the fore front. It is like a spiritual teacher of mine stated "You never know when death will come!" This major event ( it may not be major to you and one could say that people die everyday) had put me in a very contemplative frame of mine. It made me so grateful to have an understanding that "the essence who one really is never dies". The gratitude to this knowledge also shows how important it is to have some spiritual understanding about life. To not let the outer impressions make one deluded, crazy or upset and depressed.

This is where reference to the Yoga Sutras comes in handy. Like the review of Five Obstacles -YS II-3 and Abhinivesa - Fear of Death YS II- 9

From the Bhagavad Gita in Bhagavad Gita Chapter 1 - The Depression of Arjuna... Arjuna is crying and upset about participating in a war that his family members, and relatives will die. We could compare this to people mourning over the death of a loved one - like Michael. It is with the study of the other chapters of this insightful text that can help one keep our eye on the truth of who we really are and why we are here on earth.

A realization that has come from my contemplation with Michael's passing is that we are all instruments of the One, of that great creative force (the Self, God, Allah, Divine Creator, Krishna, Atma, etc.) We all came here in this lifetime with a gift. One thing Michael really did well was display and share his gifts with the world. What are we doing with our gifts? Do we even know what the gifts are? I want to thank Michael for being an instrument of the creator despite the human obstacles in his life. We all have them and what are we doing?

My contemplation lead me to see one of the socially conscious music videos that Michael made a contribution to the world.



Earth Song Lyrics

What about sunrise
What about rainWhat about all the things
That you said we were to gain
What about killing fields
Is there a time
What about all the things
That you said was yours and mine...
Did you ever stop to notice
All the blood we've shed before
Did you ever stop to notice
This crying Earth this weeping shore?

Aaaaaaaah Oooooooh
Aaaaaaaah Oooooooh

What have we done to the world
Look what we've done
What about all the peace
That you pledge your only son...
What about flowering fields
Is there a time
What about all the dreams
That you said was yours and mine...
Did you ever stop to notice
All the children dead from war
Did you ever stop to notice
This crying Earth this weeping shore

Aaaaaaaah Oooooooh
Aaaaaaaah Oooooooh

I used to dream
I used to glance beyond the stars
Now I don't know where we are
Although I know we've drifted far

Aaaaaaaah Oooooooh
Aaaaaaaah Oooooooh
Aaaaaaaah Oooooooh
Aaaaaaaah Oooooooh

Hey, what about yesterday (what about us)
What about the seas (what about us)
The heavens are falling down (what about us)
I can't even breathe (what about us)
What about Africans (what about us)
I ain't even you (what about us)
What about nature's worth (ooh ooh)
It's our planet's womb (what about us)
What about animals (what about it)
We've turned kingdoms to dust (what about us)
What about elephants (what about us)
Have we lost their trust (what about us)
What about crying whales (what about us)
We're ravaging the seas (what about us)
What about forest trails (ooh ooh)
Burnt despite our pleas (what about us)
What about the holy land (what about it)
Torn apart by creed (what about us)
What about the common man (what about us)
Can't we set him free (what about us)
What about children dying (what about us
)Can't you hear them cry (what about us)
Where did we go wrong (ooh ooh)
Someone tell me why (what about us)
What about babies born (what about it)
What about the days (what about us)
What about all their joy (what about us)
What about the man (what about us)
What about the crying man (what about us)
What about Abraham (what about us)
What about death again (ooh ooh)
Do we give a damn

Aaaaaaaah Oooooooh
Aaaaaaaah Oooooooh

Friday, July 3, 2009

Bhagavad Gita - Study of the Gita

At the end of the Bhagavad Gita - Text and Commentary by Sri Sivananda (Sivananda Press Durban SA), we are informed that:

Study of the Gita alone is sufficient for the purpose of daily scriptural study. You will find a solution for all your doubts. The more you study with devotion and faith, the more will you get deeper knowledge, penetrative insight and clear, right thinking. Even if you live in the spirit of one verse of the Gita, all your miseries will come to an end and you will attain the goal of life--immortality and eternal peace.

The Gita is a gospel for the whole world. It is meant for the generality of mankind. It was given over five thousand years ago on the battlefield of Kurushetra by Lord Krishna to Arjuna.

None but the Lord can bring out such an unprecedented and marvellous book, which gives peace to the readers, which helps and guides them in the attainment of supreme bliss. This itself proves clearly that God exists, that He is an embodiment of knowledge and that one can attain perfection or liberation by realizing Him alone.

The whole world is a big battlefield. The real Kurushetra is within you. The battle of Mahabharata is still raging within you. Ignorance is Dhritarashtra. The individual soul is Arjuna. The Indweller in your heart is Lord Krishna, the charioteer. The body is your chariot. The senses are the horses. Mind, egoism, senses, mental expressions, latent tendencies, cravings, likes and dislikes, lust, jealousy, greed, pride and hypocrisy are your dire enemies.

As the Gita contains subtle and profound teachings, you should study it under a qualified teacher--a preceptor who is established in the Absolute--with great and intense faith, single-minded devotion and purity. Only then will the truths of the Gita be revealed unto you like a fruit on the palm of your hand.

We are informed good commentaries, written by sages of Self-realisation will help us greatly. This is needed as worldly-minded people, however intellectual they are, cannot grasp the meaning of the essential teachings of the Gita. It is stated that worldly minded people will have unnecessary discussions and debates. However, If they study the Gita with reverence and faith under a qualified teacher, all their doubts will vanish. They will realise that there is a close connection between one verse and another in all the chapters. Repetitions in the Gita and the Upanishads are useful repetitions.

It is pointed how that Lord Krishna speaks from different levels of consciousness in different texts like the Gita and the Upanishads. So in order to know the right significance of the verses, the help of a teacher is necessary to understand. Sivananda tells us that Lord Krishna praises each Yoga in order to create interest in the aspirant in his particular path or Yoga. You must remember that the Gita is a book for the people of the world at large. It was not meant for Arjuna alone. Each Yoga is as efficacious and potent as the others.

India is held in high esteem by the Westerners on account of the Gita. Mahatma Gandhi once visited one of the largest libraries in London and asked the librarian, "What spiritual book is issued most frequently?" The librarian replied, "The Gita."

Sivananda ends with May the blessings of Lord Krishna be upon you all1 May the Gita be your centre, ideal and goal. Blessed is the man who studies the Gita daily! Twice blessed is he who lives in the spirit of the Gita! Thrice blessed is he who has realised the knowledge of the Gita--Atmajnana or Self-knowledge!

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Bhagavad Gita Chapter 18 - The Yoga of Liberation by Renunciation

The Yoga of Liberation by Renunciation is the heading of Chapter 18 in the Bhagavad Gita.


Click here for second video clip of translation of chapter 18


Click here for the last video clip of translation of chapter 18

In the Bhagavad Gita - Text and Commentary by Sri Sivananda (Sivananda Press Durban SA) the discourse (summary) is as follows:

The eighteenth discourse, which is the conclusion of the divine discourse of Lord Krishna is in many ways a summary of the foregoing portions of the Gita. It covers in brief numerous important points dealt with in the previous discourses. Here you behold the ultimate result or effect of the Lord's discourse to Arjuna . The drama of Arjuna's utter despondency and breakdown is finally resolved in triumphant self-mastery, strength and bold resoluteness. Its central message emerge as an assurance that in and through the performance of one's respective duties in life one can quality for the highest liberation, if one performs actions by renouncing egoism and attachment and surrendering all desire for selfish, personal gain. By regarding the performance of your duties as a worship offered to God, you obtain the Grace of the Lord and attain the eternal One.

Significantly, this discourse opens with a question by Arjuna asking what is true Sannyasa and true Tyaga (renunciation). In reply to this important and crucial query, the blessed Lord Krishna makes it clear to us that real Sannyasa or renunciation lies in renunciation of selfish and impure actions, and even more in the renunciation of the desire or greed for the fruits of anly action. Very clearly we are told that selfless and virtuous actions and actions conducive to the welfare of others should not be abandoned. You must engage yourself in performing such action but renouncing attachment and greed. The true and proper renunciation is giving up of selfishness and attachment while performing one's legitimate duties. This is called Sattwic Tyaga. We neither hate unpleasant action nor are we attached to pleasurable action. As it is not possible for you to renounce all action, the renunciation of egoism, selfishness and attachment in your activity is declared as true renunciation. Karma does not accumulate and bind one who is thus established in such inner renunciation.

The divine injunction is that God must be made the sole object of one's life. This is the heart of the Gita gospel. This the central message in its teaching. This is the one way to your welfare here.

Now Sanjaya concludes his narrative by declaring that where there is such obedience as that of Arjuna, and such willing readiness to carry out the divine teachings, there surely prosperity, victory, glory and all blessedness will prevail.

18.1 - arjuna uvacasannyasasya maha-bahotattvam icchami veditumtyagasya ca hrishikeshaprithak kesi-nisudana - "Arjuna said: O mighty-armed one, I wish to understand the purpose of renunciation [tyaga] and of the renounced order of life [sannyasa], O killer of the Keshi demon, master of the senses."

18.2 - sri-bhagavan uvacakamyanam karmanam nyasamsannyasam kavayo viduhsarva-karma-phala-tyagamprahus tyagam vicakshanah - "The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: The giving up of activities that are based on material desire is what great learned men call the renounced order of life [sannyasa]. And giving up the results of all activities is what the wise call renunciation [tyaga]."

18.3 - tyajyam dosa-vad ity ekekarma prahur manisinahyajna-dana-tapah-karmana tyajyam iti capare - "Some learned men declare that all kinds of fruitive activities should be given up as faulty, yet other sages maintain that acts of sacrifice, charity and penance should never be abandoned."

18.4 - niscayam shrinu me tatratyage bharata-sattamatyago hi purusha-vyaghratri-vidhah samprakirtitah - "O best of the Bharatas, now hear My judgment about renunciation. O tiger among men, renunciation is declared in the scriptures to be of three kinds."

18.5 - yajna-dana-tapah-karmana tyajyam karyam eva tatyajno danam tapascaivapavanani manisinam "Acts of sacrifice, charity and penance are not to be given up; they must be performed. Indeed, sacrifice, charity and penance purify even the great souls."

18.6 - etany api tu karmanisangam tyaktva phalani cakartavyaniti me parthaniscitam matam uttamam - "All these activities should be performed without attachment or any expectation of result. They should be performed as a matter of duty, O son of Pritha. That is My final opinion."

18.7 - niyatasya tu sannyasahkarmano nopapadyatemohat tasya parityagastamasah parikirtitah - "Prescribed duties should never be renounced. If one gives up his prescribed duties because of illusion, such renunciation is said to be in the mode of ignorance."

18.8 - duhkham ity eva yat karmakaya-klesa-bhayat tyajetsa kritva rajasam tyagamnaiva tyaga-phalam labhet - "Anyone who gives up prescribed duties as troublesome or out of fear of bodily discomfort is said to have renounced in the mode of passion. Such action never leads to the elevation of renunciation."

18.9 - karyam ity eva yat karmaniyatam kriyate ’rjunasangam tyaktva phalam caivasa tyagah sattviko matah - "O Arjuna, when one performs his prescribed duty only because it ought to be done, and renounces all material association and all attachment to the fruit, his renunciation is said to be in the mode of goodness."

18.10 - na dvesty akusalam karmakusale nanusajjatetyagi sattva-samavistomedhavi chinna-samsayah - "The intelligent renouncer situated in the mode of goodness, neither hateful of inauspicious work nor attached to auspicious work, has no doubts about work."

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Bhagavad Gita Chapter 17 - The Yoga of the Threefold Division of Faith

The Yoga of the Threefold Division of Faith is the heading of Chapter 17 in the Bhagavad Gita.




In the Bhagavad Gita - Text and Commentary by Sri Sivananda (Sivananda Press Durban SA) the discourse (summary) is as follows:

This discourse is termed the "Yoga of the Division of the Three Kinds of Faith". The theme of of this discourse arises out of the questions asked by Arjuna in Verse I with reference to the final closing advice of Lord Krishna in the previous discourse, contained in the last two verses therin (Verses 23 and 24). Arjuna asks, "What abut those who, even though setting aside scriptural injunctions yet perform worship with faith?"

The Lord replies and states that the faith of such men who ignore the injunctions of the scriptures could be either Sattwic, Rajasic or Tamasic. This would be in accordance with the basic nature of the person himself. And, conversely, as is the kind of faith , so develops the nature of the man.

Thus, in all things like sacrifice, worship, charity, penance, etc., these qualities become expressed in accordance with the kind of faith in which the person concerned is based. They produce results in accordance with the quality of the doer's faith. These acts done with right faith lead to supreme blessedness. When done without any faith whatsoever, all these actions become barren and useless.

17.1 - arjuna uvacaye shastra-vidhim utsrjyayajante shraddhayanvitahtesham nistha tu ka krishnasattvam aho rajas tamah - "Arjuna inquired: O Krishna, what is the situation of those who do not follow the principles of scripture but worship according to their own imagination? Are they in goodness, in passion or in ignorance?"

17.2 - sri-bhagavan uvacatri-vidha bhavati shraddhadehinam sa svabhava-jasattviki rajasi caivatamasi ceti tam shrinu - "The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: According to the modes of nature acquired by the embodied soul, one’s faith can be of three kinds—in goodness, in passion or in ignorance. Now hear about this."

17.3 - sattvanurupa sarvasyashraddha bhavati bharatashraddha-mayo ’yam purushoyo yac-chraddhah sa eva sah - "O son of Bharata, according to one’s existence under the various modes of nature, one evolves a particular kind of faith. The living being is said to be of a particular faith according to the modes he has acquired."

17.4 - yajante sattvika devanyaksha-rakshamsi rajasahpretan bhuta-ganams canyeyajante tamasa janah - "Men in the mode of goodness worship the demigods; those in the mode of passion worship the demons; and those in the mode of ignorance worship ghosts and spirits."

17.5 - 6 - ashastra-vihitam ghoramtapyante ye tapo janahdambhahankara-samyuktahkama-raga-balanvitah

karsayantah sarira-sthambhuta-gramam acetasahmam caivantah sarira-sthamtan viddhy asura-niscayan

"Those who undergo severe austerities and penances not recommended in the scriptures, performing them out of pride and egoism, who are impelled by lust and attachment, who are foolish and who torture the material elements of the body as well as the Supersoul dwelling within, are to be known as demons."

17.7 - aharas tv api sarvasyatri-vidho bhavati priyahyajnas tapas tatha danamtesham bhedam imam shrinu - "Even the food each person prefers is of three kinds, according to the three modes of material nature. The same is true of sacrifices, austerities and charity. Now hear of the distinctions between them."

17.8 - ayuh-sattva-balarogya-sukha-priti-vivardhanahrasyah snigdhah sthira hrdyaaharah sattvika-priyah - "Foods dear to those in the mode of goodness increase the duration of life, purify one’s existence and give strength, health, happiness and satisfaction. Such foods are juicy, fatty, wholesome, and pleasing to the heart."

17.9 - katv-amla-lavanaty-usna-tiksna-ruksa-vidahinahahara rajasasyestaduhkha-sokamaya-pradah - "Foods that are too bitter, too sour, salty, hot, pungent, dry and burning are dear to those in the mode of passion. Such foods cause distress, misery and disease."

17.10 - yata-yamam gata-rasamputi paryusitam ca yatucchistam api camedhyambhojanam tamasa-priyam - "Food prepared more than three hours before being eaten, food that is tasteless, decomposed and putrid, and food consisting of remnants and untouchable things is dear to those in the mode of darkness."

Click here for remaining verses of chapter 17