#Buddhi-Yoga

[shininglightofthehorizon]

Mahakala in Time and Transcending Time: Biswarup Darshan and Purushottam Yoga

Mahakal, JRC 2024 Sita Hands Hanumanji Jewel for Rama, JRC 2024 Birth of Ganges, JRC, 2024 Ian Anderson, Jethro Tull, JRC, 2024 Dun Ringill, JRC (Jethro Tull song)

[livingwellnessblog]

The Elements of the Mind: A Pathway to Self-Realization

Discover the profound power of the mind and its connection to self-realization through the exploration of the four elements: Citta, Ahamakāra, Mānas, and Buddhi. Gain insights from the wisdom of Patanjali Yoga sutras and scientific research to enhance min

The mind, often considered a product of brain activity, holds incredible power beyond its physical manifestation. In Indian culture, the mind is viewed as a combination of four elements: mānas, ahamakāra, citta, and buddhi. Understanding these aspects of the mind is crucial for suspending and letting go of our thoughts, emotions, and actions, ultimately leading to a positive and fulfilling life.…

[talonabraxas]

The Over-Soul is regarded to be the sixth Principle in the cosmos, ālaya, the universal soul, and also the Father-Mother. It is a collective indivisible Soul of which all individual souls are rays or sparks. Its present in human beings is buddhi, which serves as the vehicle of atman:

As a general law, the Highest God, the Over-soul of the human being (Atma-Buddhi), only over-shadows the individual during his life, for purposes of instruction and revelation; or as Roman Catholics–who erroneously call that Over-soul the “Guardian Angel”–would say, “It stands outside and watches.”

At the present stage of evolution the Over-Soul does not normally have an active presence in the personal consciousness. However, by means of Raja Yoga, the "human soul" or manas can be united to the Over-Soul, forming what is called "Buddhi-Manas". The person then becomes a mystic and occultist.

Atomic Ladder of Life, 'The Gate Beautiful', 1903. “Thus shall the male & female live the life of Eternity, Because the Lamb of God Creates himself a bride & wife That we his Children evermore may live in Jerusalem Which now descendeth out of heaven, a City, yet a Woman Mother of myriads redeem’d & born in her spiritual palaces, By a New Spiritual birth Regenerated from Death.” --The Four Zoas, William Blake

Art: Frederick Carter, The New Jerusalem

[premtattva]

भाग 4

Comprehending the Fracas Within Us!

The next step is to control the intellect (King Sugrīva). He can only be influenced by killing Lust (Bālī), who is living with Sugrīva’s wife. Lust cannot be killed from the front and has to be killed from behind and that is what Rāma does to Bālī. Killing the lust from behind is depicted as “Pratyāhāra” in Yoga and means living a disciplined sātvik lifestyle. The spiritual significance of Bālī and Sugrīva is the function of the breath under the control of Buddhi (Sugrīva) or Manas (Bālī). In the practice of Kriyā Prāṇāyāma, it is important to have a clear throat (Sugrīva) to allow the Vāyu(Air) Prāṇa and Apana to eventually neutralise. Once Sugrīva is King he brings with him all the Vānaras, that is the various multitude of functions of the breath that operate throughout the body that help clear the path of the Kuṇḍalinī (Sītā)

@hinducosmos @hindu-aesth @sanatantemple @ramayantika

@ancienthinduism @maithili90-blog-blog

@bishh-kanya @devimayi @bharatiya-naari-sab-pe-bhaari

@janaknandini-singh999 @swayamev @rhysaka @achyutapriya

[thest4tekid]

Alright yall. I've sat on my ass for 2 whole weeks with my back being angry at me. Every day she's a little less angry, and I'm finally more or less able to do things again. So I'm gonna get back on my journey again tomorrow, with a little bit of an edit. I'll continue tracking my calories and working out using the HIIT app by the Yoga Buddhi Co. But instead of using their preset "focus areas" I'm going to start selecting just what I want to do. Legs Monday, upper body Tuesday, core Wednesday, glutes Thursday. After that I'll either do cardio or rest depending on how I'm feeling that week. Doing everything I can to get protein, while maintaining a certain level of carbs. That's my plan anyway. Yeah

[santoschristos]

“When Cosmic Consciousness comes into the realm of matter—into each of the atoms that make up the planets and island universes, and the different forms of plant, animal, and human life…that Consciousness is called Christ Consciousness.”

By ascent of the consciousness through the subtle centers of life and spiritual awakening in the spine, the yogi learns the inner science of changing the consciousness of gross matter into the consciousness of its primordial principles. He resolves the five vibratory elements along with their manifestation of the five senses, five organs of action, and five life forces from grosser to finer principles: changing the consciousness of vibratory earth into the consciousness of vibratory water; the consciousness of water into that of vibratory fire; the consciousness of fire into that of vibratory air; the consciousness of air into that of vibratory ether; the consciousness of ether into that of mind (sense consciousness or manas); the consciousness of mind into that of discrimination (buddhi); the consciousness of discrimination into that of ego (ahamkam); the consciousness of ego into that of feeling (chitta). By thus dissolving the twenty-four principles successively into one another, the yogi then merges the consciousness of feeling into that of the primordial cosmic vibratory force (Aum), and the consciousness of Aum into Spirit. He thereby reaches the Ultimate Unity—the One from whom has sprung the many. By gradual steps the yogi in this way converts all consciousness of matter into the consciousness of Spirit. This realization is not attainable through either reason or imagination, but solely through intuitive experience. Such experience is, in nearly all cases, the result of practicing meditation and yoga techniques as taught by the great sages of ancient and modern India. --Paramahansa Yogananda ॐ

Eye Cosmic Consciousness --Mahaboka

Behold, a million divine forms, with an infinite variety of color and shape. Behold the gods of the natural world, and many more wonders never revealed before.

[shinymoonbird]

Sri Gita Saram — Verses from the Bhagavad Gita selected by Bhagavan by Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi

✨🕉✨

✨ Chanting by: Kum. Aditi ✨ Recorded by: Sri. Kuldeep Pai ✨ Presented by: Voice of Rishis - Nochur Sri Venkataramam

✨🕉✨

May the Supreme Lord who, as an embodiment of compassion appeared in the form of a charioteer to Arjuna and removed the distress of Arjuna by instructing him in words leading ultimately to Self-realisation and liberation, protect us all.

Sanjaya said:

1.  To Arjuna, who was drowned in distress, with eyes brimming with tears of despondency and who stood there possessed by kṛpā (the Divine Power of Grace that will soon make Krishna transmit the teaching), Madhusudana began to speak thus. |2: 1|

Sri Bhagavan said:

2.  This body, O Kaunteya, is called kṣhetra, the field; he who knows it is called kṣhetrajña by the sages. |13: 1|

3.  And know Me as the kshetrajna in all kṣhetras, O Bharata. The knowledge of the kṣhetra and the kṣhetrajña is deemed true knowledge by Me. |13: 2|

4.  O the great conqueror of sleep! I am the Self, seated in the heart of all beings. I am the beginning, the middle, and also the end of all beings. |10: 20|

5.  Death is inevitable for he who is born, and rebirth is assured for him who is dead. You should not, therefore, grieve over the inevitable. |2: 27|

6.  Never ever does He take birth or die. He is not given to appearing, disappearing and reappearing. Unborn, eternal, constant, ever-new and ancient, He perishes not when the body is destroyed. |2: 20|

7.  He can neither be cut nor be burnt. He can neither be wetted nor be dried. He is eternal, all-pervading, stable, constant and everlasting. |2: 24|

8.  Know that to be imperishable, by which the entire existence is pervaded. None can cause the destruction of the Indestructible. |2: 27|

9.  That which is unreal has no existence. And the real never has non-existence. The truth of both these declarations has been perceived by the seers of Truth. |2: 16|

(The asat–non-existent–has no beingness, and the sat–that which is–never ceases to be. The essence of both these are beheld by the tattvadarsis–the Realised Ones.)

10.  Just as the all-pervading akasa is not tainted, by reason of its subtlety, so the Self seated everywhere in the body is not tainted. |13: 33|

11.  That, the Sun illumines not, nor the Moon, nor fire; having attained which they return not–that is My Supreme Abode. |15: 6|

12.  That unmanifest realm, which is imperishable, is said to be the highest goal. Those who attain this realm, which is My Ultimate Primordial Abode, do not return. |8: 21|

13.  Free from pride and delusion, with the evil of attachment conquered, ever dwelling in the Self, their desires being completely stilled, liberated from the pairs of opposites such as pleasure and pain, the undeluded thus reach that Goal Eternal. |15: 5|

14.  He who casts aside the ordinances of the scriptures and acts on the impulse of desire attains neither perfection, nor happiness, nor the Supreme Goal. |16: 23|

15.  One who sees the Supreme Lord present equally in all beings–the imperishable in the perishable-truly sees. |13: 27|

16.  O Arjuna, scorcher of foes! Only by unswerving devotion can I, of this form, be known and seen in reality and also entered into. |11: 54|

17.  O Bharata! The sraddha of every man is per his natural disposition; a person is made of his sraddha, and he is what his sraddha is. |17: 3|

18.  He who has sraddha, attains Jnana. And having attained this Knowledge of the Self, he who is absorbed in it and has all the senses withdrawn, here and now, enters Supreme Peace. |4: 39|

19.  To those who are constantly devoted and worship Me with immense love, I bestow upon them the buddhi-yoga (the yoga of discriminative wisdom), by which they come to Me. |10: 10|

20.  Out of compassion for them, I, who dwell in their hearts, destroy the darkness of ignorance in them with the luminous lamp of Knowledge. |10: 11|

21.  But, for those whose ignorance is destroyed by the knowledge of the Self, their knowledge illumines the Supreme, like the shining sun. |5: 16|

22.  (The senses are not merely those visible in the body.) The senses are said to be superior to the body (as they are subtler than the body); the mind is superior to the senses; the intellect is superior to the mind, and what is superior to the intellect is the Atman. |3: 42|

23.  Thus, knowing Him as superior to the intellect, restraining the self by the Self, slay, O mighty-armed, the enemy in the form of desire, difficult to overcome. |3: 43|

24.  As the blazing fire reduces wood to ashes, O Arjuna, so does the fire of Knowledge reduce all karma to ashes. |4: 37|

25.  One whose actions are devoid of desire and motivations and whose karma is all burnt by the fire of knowledge. Him, the sages call wise. |4: 19|

26.  For the sages, who are free from craving and anger, who have mastered their minds, and who have realised the Self, the beatitude of Brahman pervades everywhere. |5: 26|

27.  And with the refined intellect set in firmness, let him attain quietude little by little. Having established the mind on the Self, let him not initiate any more thoughts. |6: 25|

28.  Whatever be the cause for the wavering and unsteady mind to wander, let him restrain it from that and subjugate it solely to the Atman. |6: 26|

29.  …the sage who has controlled the senses, the mind, and the intellect, who is solely pursuing Liberation, who has cast away desire, fear, and anger, is ever liberated. |5: 28|

30.  With the mind ever in yoga, he sees the same (Self) everywhere­–his own Self in all beings and all beings in the Self. |6: 29|

31.  Those devotees who intensely meditate on Me without their thought going to the ‘other’, I take care of their spiritual and worldly well-being. |9: 22|

32.  Of these, the Realised One, who is ever established and is devoted only to one (Me), excels. Verily, I am dear to him, and he is dear to Me. |7: 17|

33.  At the end of many births, the man of wisdom takes refuge in Me, realising that Vasudeva is all that is. Rare indeed is that great soul. |7: 19|

34.  O Partha! He who has renounced all desires of the mind and is ever content only in the Self by the Self is said to be a sthitaprajna–a sage of steady Realisation. |2: 55|

35.  That being who moves about freely, devoid of all longings, free of all desires and without the sense of ‘I’ and ‘mine’, attains Supreme peace. |2: 71|

36.  He, by whom the world is not agitated, and whom the world cannot agitate, he who is free from excitement, irritation, fear and anxiety–such a one is dear to Me. |12: 15|

37.  He who is the same in honour and dishonour, the same to friend and foe, and has abandoned all undertakings–is said to have risen above the gunas. |14: 25|

38.  However, one who delights in the Self alone, has found completeness in the Self and is ever content in the simple existence of one’s being–such a one has no duty to perform. |3: 17|

39.  (His fulfilment is eternally in his Self.) For such a Jnani, there is nothing to gain by action. Nor can anything be taken away from him by non-performance of action. He has nothing to gain from interacting with anyone ever in this world or the other. |3: 18|

40.  He who is content with whatever life may bring, is free from the pairs of opposites, is without envy, and is equanimous in success and failure–such a one is not bound even while performing actions. |4: 22|

41.  O Arjuna! The Lord dwells in the heart of all beings and, by His Maya, causes all beings to revolve as though mounted on a machine. |18:61|

42.  Seek refuge in Him alone with all your heart, O Bharata. By His grace, you shall gain Supreme Peace and the Eternal Abode. |18:62|

✨🕉✨

This condensed version of the Gita put together by Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi stands out as the essence of the essence of the Gita.

He who contemplates with sraddha on these forty-two slokas, upon knowing the purport of the Gita, attains happiness.

✨🕉✨

[elcitigre2021]

"Amor é flor que brota nos gestos!"

O amor se manifesta de muitas maneiras... Quem não entendeu ainda que a vida é sobre superar-se, e não sobre competir, está no jogo errado. Competir com outras pessoas é gastar energia de forma errada. Superar os seus próprios limites é o que importa no final.

Uma árvore em flor fica despida no outono. A beleza transforma-se em feiura, a juventude em velhice e o erro em virtude. Nada fica sempre igual e nada existe realmente. Portanto, as aparências e o vazio existem simultaneamente. ~ Dalai Lama ~

O Auto-Conhecimento é uma forma forma de desenvolver sua essência divina... a Autoliderança e os quatro aspectos da mente:

A autoliderança é a prática de entender quem você é, identificar suas experiências desejadas e orientar-se intencionalmente em direção a elas, definição esta introduzida por Charles C. Manz em 1983.

Ela abrange a determinação do que fazemos, por que fazemos e como fazemos. Este conceito surgiu a partir da ideia de que a autoliderança é um pré-requisito para uma liderança eficaz e autêntica. Mas para que isso aconteça, temos que lembrar que tudo tem início na nossa mente.

E a pergunta é: Você conhece profundamente sua propria mente? - Estudos sobre a mente é o que não faltam. Entretanto, de acordo com o conhecimento ancestral do yoga, a mente humana pode ser dividida em quatro categorias: buddhi - (intelecto), manas - (memória), ahankara - (senso de identidade) e chitta -(inteligência cósmica).

Buddhi é o intelecto — a capacidade de analisar fatos através da lógica. O intelecto é como um bisturi que disseca, analisa as partes, reduz, faz comparações e chega a conclusões lógicas a partir dos dados analisados. O intelecto não trabalha sem dados e é por isso que precisamos de manas (memória) que é a segunda categoria da mente.

Manas é um silo de memória onde armazenamos informações que vão muito além de fatos e conhecimentos acumulados. Cada célula pode conter milhões de bits de informações no seu material genético. Além da memória genética, carregamos memórias evolutivas, culturais e kármicas.

Ahankara (senso de identidade). Todo ser humano nasce com a necessidade de sobrevivência e pertencimento. Então nos identificamos com nossa família biológica e à medida que nos tornamos adultos, vamos expandindo a identidade com a nossa família estendida, raça, etnia, religião, nação e assim por diante.

Quanto maior o apego às nossas identidades maior é o dano que causamos a nós mesmos e ao próximo.

Por outro lado, uma pessoa com ahankara bem desenvolvido consegue se empatizar com outras pessoas, se desapegar de suas próprias identidades, desaprender e reaprender com muito mais facilidade.

Daí a importância do líder facilitar processos de tal forma que amplie o senso de identidade do grupo.

O último aspecto da mente é a chitta ou inteligência cósmica. É a inteligência do universo que não depende do intelecto nem de dados e vai além das comparações, dos julgamentos e das identificações. Ela é a base da fonte criadora e a conexão com sua consciência.

Em síntese, buddhi e manas são aspectos importantes para a nossa sobrevivência. Para gerar impactos positivos numa escala maior, o líder precisa ampliar seu seu senso de identidade para uma escala global que inclua todos os seres (ahamkara). Mas se você quiser dar um salto exponencial na sua liderança, amplie sua capacidade de perceber e ouça as respostas da inteligência cósmica que reside dentro de você (chitta).

[elcaminoeshaciaadentro]

La mente (manas o consciencia sensorial) coordina los sentidos. El cuerpo es el carruaje; el alma es el amo del carruaje; la inteligencia es el conductor; y los sentidos son los corceles. Se dice que la mente es ciega porque no puede ver sin el auxilio de los sentidos y de la inteligencia.  La mente ciega por sí sola no reconoce ni ejerce dirección alguna, sino que simplemente recoge las impresiones de los sentidos y transmite las conclusiones e instrucciones provenientes de la inteligencia.

Si la inteligencia está gobernada por buddhi, los sentidos se gobiernan y se encuentran bajo control; si, por el contrario, la inteligencia está gobernada por los deseos materiales, los sentidos se comportan de manera turbulenta y descontrolada y caen en costumbres perniciosas y hábitos autodestructivos.

-Paramahansa Yogananda ~ El Yoga del Bhagavad Guita

[iskconchd]

श्रीमद्‌ भगवद्‌गीता यथारूप 2.50 https://srimadbhagavadgita.in/2/50 बुद्धियुक्तो जहातीह उभे सुकृतदुष्कृते । तस्माद्योगाय युज्यस्व योगः कर्मसु कौशलम् ॥ २.५० ॥ TRANSLATION भक्ति में संलग्न मनुष्य इस जीवन में ही अच्छे तथा बुरे कार्यों से अपने को मुक्त कर लेता है । अतः योग के लिए प्रयत्न करो क्योंकि सारा कार्य-कौशल यही है । PURPORT जीवात्मा अनादि काल से अपने अच्छे तथा बुरे कर्म के फलों को संचित करता रहा है । फलतः वह निरन्तर अपने स्वरूप से अनभिज्ञ बना रहा है । इस अज्ञान को भगवद्गीता के उपदेश से दूर किया जा सकता है । यह हमें पूर्ण रूप में भगवान् श्रीकृष्ण की शरण में जाने तथा जन्म-जन्मान्तर कर्म-फल की शृंखला का शिकार बनने से मुक्त होने का उपदेश देती है, अतः अर्जुन को कृष्णभावनामृत में कार्य करने के लिए कहा गया है क्योंकि कर्मफल के शुद्ध होने की यही प्रक्रिया है । ----- Srimad Bhagavad Gita As It Is 2.50 buddhi-yukto jahātīha ubhe sukṛta-duṣkṛte tasmād yogāya yujyasva yogaḥ karmasu kauśalam TRANSLATION A man engaged in devotional service rids himself of both good and bad reactions even in this life. Therefore strive for yoga, which is the art of all work. PURPORT Since time immemorial each living entity has accumulated the various reactions of his good and bad work. As such, he is continuously ignorant of his real constitutional position. One’s ignorance can be removed by the instruction of the Bhagavad-gītā, which teaches one to surrender unto Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa in all respects and become liberated from the chained victimization of action and reaction, birth after birth. Arjuna is therefore advised to act in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, the purifying process of resultant action. ----- #krishna #iskconphotos #motivation #success #love #bhagavatamin #india #creativity #inspiration #life #spdailyquotes #devotion

[shininglightofthehorizon]

The Adi Sesha Winding and Unwinding that creates the real time projection of space-time architecture

The piscean moonIn a heaxogonal bubble Has now become the lake where the fishes swim In the tri-junction they have evolved to become the reptiles The Dance of Freedom, Artwork by JRC, 19th Aug 2023 The salamander is basking in the sunAdisesha uncoils into differential equations to become the calculus of happines ….Ananda is Ananda in the Sri Hari tattva of ShivaLet the Mother shine through the…

[prabhupadanugas]

तेषां सततयुक्तानां भजतां प्रीतिपूर्वकम् | ददामि बुद्धियोगं तं येन मामुपयान्ति ते || १० || teṣāṁ satata-yuktānāṁ bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrvakam dadāmi buddhi-yogaṁ taṁ yena m��m upayānti te To those who are constantly devoted and worship Me with love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me. In this verse the word buddhi-yogam is very significant. We may remember that in the Second Chapter the Lord, instructing Arjuna, said that He had spoken to him of many things and that He would instruct him in the way of buddhi-yoga. Now buddhi-yoga is explained. Buddhi-yogam itself is action in Kṛṣṇa consciousness; that is the highest intelligence. Buddhi means intelligence, and yogam means mystic activities or mystic elevation. When one tries to go back home, back to Godhead, and takes fully to Kṛṣṇa consciousness in devotional service, his action is called buddhi-yogam. In other words, buddhi-yogam is the process by which one gets out of the entanglement of this material world. The ultimate goal of progress is Kṛṣṇa. People do not know this; therefore the association of devotees and a bona fide spiritual master are important. One should know that the goal is Kṛṣṇa, and when the goal is assigned, then the path is slowly but progressively traversed, and the ultimate goal is achieved. https://gloriousgita.com/verse/en/10/10 https://bhagavad-gita.org/Gita/verse-10-09.html https://bookchanges.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/Bg-Chapter-10-diff.htm https://youtube.com/c/HearSrilaPrabhupada https://www.bhagavad-gita.us/famous-reflections-on-the-bhagavad-gita/ #bhagavatam #srimadbhagavatam #vishnu #vishnupuran #harekrishna #harekrsna #harekrishna #harekrisna #prabhupada #bhagavadgita #bhagavadgitaasitis #bhagavadgītā #srilaprabhupada #srilaprabhupad #srilaprabhupadaquotes #asitis #india #indian #wayoflife #religion #goals #goaloflife #spiritual #bhakti #bhaktiyoga #chant #prasadam #picoftheday #photo #beautiful #usa https://sites.google.com/view/sanatan-dharma https://m.facebook.com/HDG.A.C.Bhaktivedanta.Svami.Srila.Prabhupada.Uvaca/ https://www.instagram.com/p/CpMgrBaIR4e/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[talonabraxas]

The Over-Soul is regarded to be the sixth Principle in the cosmos, ālaya, the universal soul, and also the Father-Mother. It is a collective indivisible Soul of which all individual souls are rays or sparks. Its present in human beings is buddhi, which serves as the vehicle of atman:

As a general law, the Highest God, the Over-soul of the human being (Atma-Buddhi), only over-shadows the individual during his life, for purposes of instruction and revelation; or as Roman Catholics–who erroneously call that Over-soul the “Guardian Angel”–would say, “It stands outside and watches.”

At the present stage of evolution the Over-Soul does not normally have an active presence in the personal consciousness. However, by means of Raja Yoga, the "human soul" or manas can be united to the Over-Soul, forming what is called "Buddhi-Manas". The person then becomes a mystic and occultist.

Atomic Ladder of Life, 'The Gate Beautiful', 1903.

[yoga-studies]

108 Saṃskṛta Core Concept Pointers - 33 - Buddhi

A lesser known facet of the Yoga Texts and Freenotes section of the Website is the Romanised Saṃskṛta Core Glossary and Cross Reference Guide. It started life as word by word linked index for the online Yoga Sūtra verses offering a meaning and a cross Sūtra reference resource when exploring related verses. However, as more Yoga Related Texts were added to the online Database, it was obvious that…

[atplblog]

Price: [price_with_discount] (as of [price_update_date] - Details) [ad_1] The tradition of Samkhya is one of the oldest and most influential in the intellectual history of India. The fundamental notions of Samkhya namely prakrti, purusa, buddhi, ahamkara, manas and the three gunas provided the conceptual framework in which much of Indian philosophizing occurred, and the classical formulations of Yoga and Vedanta together with many traditions of Buddhist philosophy and meditation developed vis-a-vis the intellectual perspective of the Samkhya. Similarly on a general cultural level the influence of Samkhya was profound and important over many centuries in such areas as law, medicine, ancient science and mathematics, logic, mythology, cosmology and ritual. This study traces the history of the Samkhya not only in the Indian intellectual tradition, but also in the traditions of historical criticism. The book also offers a new interpretation of the philosophical significance of the Samkhya, with special reference to the classical interpretation of the interaction of prakrti and purusa. In this edition author has also included a Chart of the Twenty-five Basic Principles of the Samkhya, a Glossary of Samkhya Terminology, an additional Appendix which surveys recent scholarly work in the area of Samkhya together with a discussion of Samkhya in the Purana-s and a revised Bibliography. Publisher ‏ : ‎ Motilal Banarsidass, (1 January 2014) Language ‏ : ‎ English Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 332 pages ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 812080502X ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-8120805026 Country of Origin ‏ : ‎ India [ad_2]

[gitaacharan]

61. Certainty for an Uncertain Mind

The third chapter of the Gita is known as ‘Karma Yoga’, which is an elaboration of verse 2.71 where Krishna said that nir-mama (sans-I) and nir-ahankaar (sans- I am doer) is the path to attain the eternal state.

Arjun raises a doubt “If you consider Buddhi (intellect/awareness) to be superior, why then do you engage me in terrible action (of war) (3.1)  instead of telling me with nischay (certainty), what is best for my welfare without confusing me with perplexing speech”(3.2).

Labelling, expressed or hidden, is nothing but irrational and impulsive decisions which aren’t evidence-based and Krishna advised to drop them (2.50). Arjun made a decision to escape the war based on a single factor that he doesn’t foresee any good in killing one’s kinsmen in the battle (1.31). Subsequently, he gathers many justifications to defend his decision and the present question also appears as a part of the justification rather than the quest for better understanding.

Our situation is no different than that of Arjun as we are labelled based on religion, race, family status, caste, nationality, gender etc. much before we come to our senses and we keep struggling to justify them throughout our life.

Secondly, Arjun is looking for nischay (certainty) from Krishna. Even though impermanence is the norm of the manifested, all of us look for certainty as it gives us comfort. We gravitate towards labelling since it offers certainty rather than waiting to gather more evidence for a rational decision which requires patience.

But the eternal certainty comes out of one’s own life experiences and one has to earn it the hard way. All of us have to walk the path as this experience can’t be borrowed from books or others. It’s akin to driving or cycling which is one’s own experience.