4 Gita Course Chps 7 9 Bhakti Yoga, The Best Way To Spiritual Growth @ GEV
Disclaimer: This transcript was generated using AI and may contain occasional errors or inaccuracies.
So, welcome back. Pray Krishna. Thank you.
So, we will dive into the Bhakti section of the Bhagavad Gita. Let us pray to Krishna that as He reveals His heart to us in the Bhagavad Gita, that we can also open our heart to receive and relish His revelation. So now, when Krishna speaks the Bhagavad Gita, the Gita at one level is… Is this visible? Colour has changed.
The Gita is a natural conversation. It is not exactly a structured education. There is a structure within it.
But the Gita itself is a natural conversation. That means, when Krishna is speaking the Bhagavad Gita, at that time He doesn't say, अतः पंचमो अध्यायः पूर्णम् अतः सप्तादशो अध्यायः He is not speaking in terms of chapters. He is just having a normal discussion.
And as topics come up, He addresses those topics. So, when Krishna starts the Bhagavad Gita, He is not giving us a technical analysis of Karma Yoga, Gyan Yoga, Bhakti Yoga. It's like you can have a subject, you can have an educational class about physics.
Then in that class, you may have the teacher speaking, okay, we'll discuss this subject now, we'll discuss this subject now, we'll discuss this subject now. So, it is not exactly like an educational class. To give a contemporary example, The Gita is actually like a podcast.
You know, when you have this podcast discussions, two people come and they have an earnest discussion. And it's not an arbitrary discussion. They are discussing seriously on some topic.
But it is also, as the discussion flows, they have the discussion. It's not a pre-scripted discussion. You can have a scripted interview for 5 minutes, 7 minutes.
But it's a 2-hour podcast. It cannot be scripted. So, the Gita is not in that sense like a scripted discussion.
So, as subjects come up, Krishna discusses those subjects. And now when subjects come up, how do the subjects come up? One is Arjuna asks them questions. Second is that Krishna has explained something and Krishna takes it forward from there.
So, there are some places where a new chapter begins with Arjuna asking a question, which signifies that now the discussion is going in a particular direction. Some places, Krishna himself starts a new theme. And that indicates, okay, now we are going in a particular direction.
So, actually from 7.1, the very first word of 7.1 begins with a very distinct focus. It is Mayi Asakta Manaha. Asakta is attached.
Till now, the entire focus of the Gita is being on being detached. And suddenly, Krishna is saying, now the focus is not being detached, the focus is being attached. So, of course, the attachment is to Krishna.
So, it is a divine attachment, but still the focus is shifting. Till the 6th chapter, when Krishna is talking about Karma Yoga, the focus has been on being Tattva Karma Phala Sangam Tattva, like that. Give up attachment.
Give up being detached, being equalised. But here, the very first verse is Mayi Asakta Manaha. And this, actually, to talk about from the conceptual view, I said that I am not doing a very much of a chapter-wise overview.
Although we are doing chapter-wise, we are not going to chapter so much, we are going to concepts more. So, what has happened is, in one sense, in chapters 1 to 6, as I said, till chapters 2 to 5 was Karma Yoga. Then chapter 5 to 6 was Dhyana Yoga.
But Dhyana Yoga, Krishna culminates it in Bhakti Yoga. Because 647, what was that? Among all yogis, the one who fixes their mind on me is the most united. So now, what Krishna is essentially saying is, I have described to you the path from Karma Yoga to Dhyana Yoga to Bhakti Yoga.
Not Dhyana Yoga, Dhyana Yoga to Bhakti Yoga. Not Bhakti Yoga specifically, to fixing the mind on me, which is the ultimate yogic perfection. Now, I will give you an alternative pathway.
Mayi Asakta Manaha. Now, I will give you an alternative pathway by which you can make your mind fixed on me. So, this 7.1 is a very key transition verse.
Sometimes in a class, if a speaker is speaking, I will say, okay, we will discuss this topic now, now we will move to this topic. So, it's a transition point. Like that, this is a transition point.
And what is the transition point here? Krishna is saying, Mayi Asakta Manaha Partha. Let's look at this verse. Recite it and then we will look at this transition point.
So, So, Krishna is telling here that this is the, that mind attached to me. That was the perfection that was talked about in 6.47. And through the path of yoga, Arjuna has said this is very difficult. Now, Krishna is saying, I will give you another path by which you can attain the perfection of yoga.
And what are the stages in that? He says, it begins with fear. You hear what I am going to speak to you. Shru, that Shru.
If you hear what will happen? You will know me. Gyansyasi. How will you know me? Free from doubt.
Now, once you know me, free from doubt, you will practice yoga devoted to me. Yogam Yunjan. And what is the purpose of this yoga? It is to take shelter of me.
Madashrayaha. And when you take shelter of me, eventually what will happen is you will make your mind attached. So, Krishna will describe the pathway by which anyone in this world can grow spiritually and make their mind attached to Krishna.
So, here you come to know about me. You come to know about me. You become free from doubts about me.
Then, Krishna is such a wonderful person. I want to connect with him. I want to practice yoga to connect with him.
Not just connect with him, I want to take shelter of him. And then our mind becomes completely focused on him. So, this particular journey, we can visualize in another way, which as you get the sequence, I will explain it further.
So, the idea is that if you consider the spiritual journey, say, at the start of the spiritual journey, somebody who is a starter on the spiritual path. See, for them, the world is big. And God is small.
That means, okay, God exists. But what really matters is the world. When I was introduced to bhakti, I tried to share bhagavata wisdom with some of my relatives.
So, my uncle said, I believe in God. He is happy there, I am happy here. So, the idea is, okay, even if God exists, God doesn't matter.
But as we become seers, as we go spiritually, the world becomes smaller and God becomes bigger for us. So, what does it mean the world becomes smaller? That the world's ups and downs, yeah, they will come and go. But my connection with God, as long as I am connected with God, as long as I am devoted to God, as long as I am trying to please God, that is what really matters in life.
So, this is essentially the spiritual journey. That initially God is just like, you could say, somebody is driving a car. Then God is like the spare wheel.
You know, spare wheel means if things don't work out, then you pray to God. God is like the spare wheel. I saw an advertisement of an insurance company.
If you don't have insurance with us, it's time for you to start your prayers. So, the idea is, yeah, if nothing else works, go to God. Okay, that's also good.
Sometimes people are going to God. But at this level, God is not our spare wheel. He is our steering wheel.
No, He is the same. It is He who is the primary reality for us. It is He who guides us.
So, when I earlier said that, you know, we can live with pain or live in pain. So, if the world is very big for us, anything goes wrong in the world, then we will live in pain. But if God is the bigger reality for us, then if something goes wrong in the world, it will still matter for us.
But it won't matter because the Lord is the bigger reality. That's how we may live. Here, we will live in pain.
But at this stage, here we will live. If there is a problem, we will live in pain. But when God is the bigger reality for us, then even if there is pain, even if there is pain, we will live with pain, not in pain.
The whole process of spiritual growth is that we make God the bigger reality. So, when Krishna is saying, Mayi Asat Tavana, that means God is the biggest reality for us. Say, if we have a family and for earning for our family, we have to take a job far away from our family.
Then we have to do our job and deal with clients, customers, various people. But in the back of our mind, it's all the schedules for our family. So, that is what is prominent in our mind.
Although what is prominent may not be in the forefront of our mind all the time. It may be, okay, if I have to deal with my customers, I have to deal with my customers, I have to pay attention to them. But why am I doing all this? It's for taking care of my family.
So, in that sense, when our attachment to Krishna is very strong, we may do various activities in the world, but we won't be affected by those activities because we are primarily focused on connecting with Krishna and staying connected with Krishna. So, Krishna is telling, Now, I will describe you the process by which you will come to know me and knowing me, you will become devoted to me and I will become the biggest reality for you. That's how the mind will become attached to him.
So, this, in one sense, this process, Krishna describes from chapter 7 till chapter 12. So, he describes it in various ways at various places. But essentially, he is describing this in these six chapters.
So, now, generally speaking, when people turn towards spirituality, people pursue spiritual growth. They pursue spiritual growth for two distinct reasons. One is they see spirituality as a shock absorber.
And second is they see spirituality as a goal transformer. Shock absorber and goal transformer. Shock absorber means that in life, there is so much stress, there is so much anxiety, there is so much trouble, I want some peace of mind.
So, when Krishna talks about in 7.16, he talks about four kinds of people who come to me. So, the first three categories, those who are distressed, those who are wealth seekers and those who are curious. For them, God is more like a shock absorber.
That, oh, I have got some shocks, I just want relief from them. And it is good, Krishna says, you know, such people are, they are udara. They are, they are so large hearted that they come to me.
In fact, this word udara, udara sarvai vaite, Krishna says, it's a very striking word. He uses this in 7.17, I believe. Desham gyanit tyagta, eka bhakti vishishyate, udara sarvai vaite.
So, it's, is it 7.17 or 7.18? Does anyone have the Gita here? So, anyway, one of these verses. So, he speaks this. So, anyway, Ramacharya gives a very beautiful commentary to this verse.
7.17, 8.18, yeah. So, udara sarvai vaite. Udara, actually, in our normal language means charitable.
Prabhupada says large hearted. Now, if we consider, what is udara over here? See, if God is here and say we are here. Now, we are going to God because we want something from him.
So, in one sense, we are self-seeking. So, if we are self-seeking and still Krishna is saying, oh, you are so charitable. Udara sarvai vaite.
So, normally, it is the giver who is considered charitable, not the asker. How can the asker be charitable? But he explains that Krishna loves us so much that Krishna wants, wants our love. Krishna wants us to love him.
He is so eager, he is so hungry for our love that for whatever reason, we come to him. He is happy that we come to him. He is happy, just like, you know, if a child has become estranged from the parents.
And then the child gets into a lot of trouble. And finally, the child comes to the parents for help. Now, if the parents love the child, the parents are not going to ask.
It is only when you are in trouble, you are coming to me. The parents are going to say, if you are in so much trouble, why didn't you come to me earlier? It is good that you came to me. So, like that, Krishna is saying, you come to me, Udara.
He is happy. So, to give another example, say suppose a boy proposes to a girl. Please marry me.
And the girl asks, okay, why do you want us to marry? And the boy says, because no other girl in town wanted to marry. Now, that is one of the most romantic of proposals, isn't it? But, say, if the girl accepts that proposal, that shows her love for him. Not his love for her.
The girl really loves that boy. Even if she is her last alternative, still she is ready to accept him. So, like that, Krishna is saying, even if I am your last alternative, at least you are coming to me, I accept it.
However, the boy is to show his love for the girl. Then, over a period of time, she has to become his first alternative. So, like that, initially, when we are on the spiritual journey, we face problems, we think, okay, money will solve my problems, contacts will solve my problems, my own cleverness will solve my problems.
And when nothing else works, let's go to God. Why have you come to me? Oh God, I have tried everything else, nothing else worked. Please help me.
He says, thank you that you came to me, Krishna says. So, that is nice. But eventually, Krishna needs to become our first choice, not our last choice.
So, basically, going back to this diagram, when I say initially the world is big and God is small. So, here what happens basically is that, for us, God is the means. And the world is the end.
That means the real thing is, I want to be happy in this world. I want power, I want comfort, I want success. And God, you be a means to that.
So, this is where we see God as a goal, as a shock absorber. I have already decided what I want, but I am having difficulty in getting it. So, God, you please help me to get it.
It's okay, at least we are coming to God for that. However, as we evolve spiritually, we start understanding that actually the world is a means to God. That God is actually the end.
That the world, whatever wealth I have, whatever relationships I have, whatever talents I have, they are all meant for the service of God. So, this is pure devotion. And Krishna says normally this may take many lifetimes.
So, this is where God and spirituality becomes our goal and transform. Initially I come because I am so stressed, I want to be peaceful. So that I can go on enjoying my life in the world.
But after sometime I realize, enjoying my life in the world is not that great. Is there some higher satisfaction in life? Is there something which gives greater fulfillment? That is what I seek. So, this normally takes multiple lifetimes, Krishna says.
Let's recite this verse. Bahunam janmanamante Jnanavan mam prapadyate Vasudevah sarvamiti Samahatmasudurlabha So, here what Krishna is essentially saying is that Vasudeva Sarvamiti That is Krishna Vasudev is the ultimate reality. He is the bigger reality for us.
And he is the virtues of our life. That's where the world is not the end, but the world is a means to the end. And this is where our devotion becomes very steady and stable.
Otherwise, if God is just a means to the end of the world. So, today I pray to God to get something in the world. But tomorrow if I can get those things without God.
Then, thank you God, good bye. It becomes like that. So, then the devotion remains very unstable.
So, Krishna is saying that yes, many people will approach him. Most of them will come because they want some kind of shock absorption in life. But eventually it's that those who see Krishna as the goal.
They are very rare. So, it's like if we have a funnel. Those who are seeking, those who come to God.
Those who come to spirituality as a shock absorber. They will be many. Those who seek God as the ultimate goal.
The goal transformer, they will be very rare. Manushyana sahasrinishu Among thousands of people, few will come to me. Many people face problems.
But most people do not turn to God. They may turn to wealth, to power, to movies, to drugs, to intoxication. People try so many things to deal with their problems.
To get away from their problems. A few come to God. But even after a few come to God.
Yata taam vi siddhana kashchin mam viddhi tadvata A few actually come to know that I am the ultimate goal. So, in the 7th chapter, basically what Krishna is telling is Why should we make our mind attached to him? Because he is the supreme reality. It is he who is the supreme source of satisfaction.
Therefore, try to become attached to him. Then, after this. So, I will just speak one or two key points from each of the chapters of the Gita.
So, chapter 7 we discussed two points. Now, chapter 8, Krishna is doing two things in chapter 8. Among many things. One is, he is comparing Dhyan Yoga and Bhakti Yoga.
So, while in this 6th chapter he had talked about Dhyan Yoga. And there Arjuna had said this is difficult. That Krishna had given a non-specific recommendation.
That abhyas and vairagya. That persistence and abstinence. But you could say, like if somebody is taking a treatment.
Allopathy or Ayurveda or Naturopathy or whatever kind of treatment. Like persistence and abstinence are universal principles in any treatment. So, Krishna gives non-specific recommendations over there.
So, then in this chapter. He will say that okay, you can fix your mind on me. By the process of Dhyan Yoga.
That is also possible. You can chant Om and you can remember me. But there is only one verse in the Gita.
Where Krishna says attaining me as the ultimate reality is easy. That is in 8.14. And that is Krishna's answer to Arjuna's question. Okay, this path of Dhyan Yoga is difficult.
Krishna says that I recommend Bhakti Yoga. अनन्यचेतासततम् योमां स्मरति नित्यशः तस्याहं सुलभः पार्थ नित्ययुक्तस्य योगिनः So, one who practices fixing their mind on me. For that person, सुलभः.
I am easily attained. So, what just now we discussed 7.19 is दुर्लभः. That is very difficult to attain.
But Krishna says that is very difficult to attain. That is one among millions attains. That is easy.
If one practices Bhakti Yoga. If one practices fixing the mind on me. Then one can attain that.
So, now why is practicing Bhakti Yoga easy as compared to Dhyan Yoga? That is primarily for two reasons. Now, when people talk about meditation. They talk about it in two things.
Two ways. It is the mode of thinking. And the object of thought.
That means somebody may say that Mode of thinking. Oh, I am meditating on this subject. I am meditating on how to Whether to go ahead with this relationship or not.
Whether to take this job or not. Meditating means it is deep thinking. So, one meaning of the word meditation is based on the mode of thinking.
And other. So, this is often you could say in the normal or daily sense. If people use the word I am meditating on the subject.
That means I am thinking deeply about it. Now, in the spiritual or the philosophical sense. Meditation is based primarily on the object of meditation.
I am practicing meditation. So, I am meditating on an image of Krishna. I am meditating on this mantra.
I am meditating on this light. I am meditating on this. So, there the focus is on the object of meditation.
So, in the spiritual context. The object of meditation is the most important thing. How we meditate is also important.
But the object of meditation is most important. So, with respect to if somebody decides to meditate. So, if we focus on the object.
Now, the object can be either passive. Or the object can be active. Or even attractive.
What do I mean by this? See, if somebody decides. Ok. You know I sit in the room.
And there is a white board over there. And in the white board there is a black dot. And I am meditating on the black dot.
Ok. Any way we try to calm our mind. It is helpful.
Because the mind is agitated. Calm our mind. Somebody says ok.
I will meditate on this. On the flame of this candle. You can meditate on that.
But that is a passive object. I may put all my meditation on the flame of the candle. But the flame of the candle is not a person who is going to love me.
The point on a wall is not something who is going to offer any mercy or grace to me. So, basically. Meditating on Krishna is easier.
Because Krishna is not a passive object. That you are meditating on. He is both active and attractive.
Attractive means. Because he is attractive. Our mind easily goes towards him.
Krishna has so many sweet names. Krishna has so many delightful pastimes. Krishna has so many songs.
There is a whole bhakti culture. With music, dance, literature, song, architecture. There are so many ways in which we can fix our mind on Krishna.
So, Krishna is attractive. And attractive. And Krishna is also active.
Active in the sense that Krishna is capable of being merciful. Earlier I gave the example of Bhagavad Gita and Bollywood. Now there, in that example.
It is we who have to consciously choose Bhagavad Gita.com. But when we try to fix the mind on Krishna. It is not just we who are trying to push our mind towards Krishna. It is Krishna also who is trying to draw our mind towards us.
Krishna we will talk about later in the 12th chapter also. I will lift you out of this ocean of mortal existence. I will raise you up.
How? Quickly. Not very fast. So, Krishna is not a passive point.
He is active and he is attractive. And because of that, meditating on him is much easier. Now, ultimately, even in the path of yoga.
People come to Krishna. But it is after a long time. Initially it says, भुरुवोर्मद्धेप्राणमावेश्यसम्यक् Initially on the path of yoga.
If somebody is following that path. They don't know what is the ultimate reality. They start by some fixed point of concentration.
It could be the eyebrows. The space between the eyebrows. It could be the tip of the nose.
They take any point and try to focus on that. And then gradually by that go inward, inward, inwards. Till eventually they realize that Vishnu is the lord within their heart.
And the greatest yoga is ध्यानावस्तितत्कतेन्यमनसापशंतियम्योगिनो They will come to that gradually. But it is a long laborious process. Because we are starting from a passive point of concentration.
And then gradually move towards an active and attractive point. But when we start right from the active and attractive point. Then it becomes much easier.
So meditation on Krishna is easier. Because he is an active and attractive point of focus. Of the person whom we are meditating on.
Now the second point I will talk about is This is a question whenever I am in America I am giving talks on Bhagavad Gita. Many people say that the Easter philosophy is very world denying. It is very world rejecting.
It is very pessimistic. And one of the verses that are quoted for this is Just the next verse after this. Most of us, many of you know this verse.
The key line over is दो खाले अशाशतम् This world is a place of distress. Now when people hear this. Just feel you are being so pessimistic.
This world is a place of distress. And they find that this is a very world denying or world rejecting kind of philosophy. But is the Bhagavad Gita pessimistic? Why no? Because we are following the Bhagavad Gita.
We look at it. So is the Gita pessimistic? I look at it from three different perspectives. The contextual.
The textual. And the philosophical. So contextual means in the context of the Gita.
Now we know that at the start of the Gita. Arjuna was distressed. And in the middle of the Gita.
We know Arjuna is in 2.1. He is saying तं तथा कुर्पया विष्टमश्रपूर्णा कुलेक्यूँ He is in tears. Now in 8.15 this verse. Krishna is telling this world is a place of distress.
So Krishna would have said. Arjuna you are in distress. This world is a place of distress.
Therefore the Bhagavad Gita is true. Now stay unhappy. Stay in distress.
That is not what Krishna is doing. The Gita goes on from here. And by the end of the Gita.
If we come to 18.73. Actually Arjuna has become distress free. नश्टो मोहस्मते लभदा पत्प्रसादान्मयाचुता He says by your mercy O Krishna. My illusion is dispelled.
My doubts are gone. And स्थितो मोहस्मियत सदंधिया I have become well situated. I have become composed.
So it's interesting. Although Gita says the world is a place of distress. The Gita takes Arjuna from being distressed.
To be free from distress. So the Gita's message is clearly not pessimistic. In the sense that this world is a place of distress.
All of you stay distressed. That's not the message of the Gita. Now if we look at this is the contextual.
Contextual means that if you look at the context. What is happening to Arjuna? He is being freed from distress. Now if we look at the textual.
In this verse Krishna is not really emphasizing that this world is a place of distress. It is not even one verse. If we consider this verse.
It's one fourth of one verse. अमुपित्तपुरुजन्दुख्खालेमशाष्वतम् We consider verse as four parts A, B, C, D. It's only one fourth that is talking about it. What is the emphasis of the verse? That those who worship me.
They will attain me and they won't come to this world of distress. They won't come to this world of distress. So the focus is not that this world is a place of distress.
The focus is to go beyond this world of distress. To go to they will attain me. So clearly the emphasis is on transcending distress.
Not on staying in distress because the world is a place of distress. So now what does this mean? This textual leads to the philosophical. The philosophical is going to be the biggest part of it.
And if we forget everything else from this three session, six session, seven, three, four days that we are having. If you remember this one diagram. You will be remembering the most important parts of the message of the Gita.
One of the most important parts. See basically this four part like this world and another world or the other world. So broadly the various philosophies in this world.
This world is real. The other world is real. So this world is unreal.
The other world is unreal. So if we have, if we can make four quadrants like that. All the philosophies in the world can be put broadly within these four categories.
Not necessarily in the specific details. But broadly. So that there is this world we live in and there is another world beyond this.
Now if we had a time machine by which we went about 300, 400 years before. Before the scientific revolution started in the west. Then whether it is India or the west or the middle east or native America or even native Australia.
I have been there and talked with some of the devotees who are from native Australia. Tribes in Australia. They call them the first people.
Almost everyone had this understanding that there is another world. And that world is the ultimate destination. The Bible later said this world is like a bridge.
Don't build your own, I am going to cross over it. So that theme is there everywhere. But after science and the scientific revolution.
We started playing with this whole idea of another world. A paradise. A heaven.
A spiritual world. It is all a myth. And the idea became this world is the only world.
So the current philosophy is that this world is real. The other world is unreal. So we could call this as materialism.
So we will call this 1, this 4 quadrants. 1, 2, 3 and 4. So this is the prevailing philosophy mostly in the world. This world is all that exists and there is nothing beyond this world.
And if this is the philosophical presumption that somebody is having. This world is the only world. And then if you say this world is a place of distress.
Then people feel what is the point of living also. Isn't it Dev? That means there is no possibility for any kind of improvement in my life. There is no possibility for anything becoming better.
But that is not the point of the Gita. The Gita is never saying that we can't have a better life. This philosophical world, this world is the only world that is real.
Now we are not going to go into extensive critique of this philosophy. But just a couple of points. The problem with the idea that this world is the only real world.
The problem is that this world is at the very least it is dissatisfying. That there is never enough of what we want. I am not tall enough.
I am not fair enough. I am not smart enough. I am not slim enough.
I am not rich enough. There is never enough of what we have. And at the very least we say it is satisfying.
And even within materialism through technology we are trying to convert this world into a tech paradise. In fact that was the promise of technology. That through whatever discomfort is there in the world, it is there in this world.
Through technology we remove the discomfort. It is too hot or too cold. We will have air conditioning or we will have heaters.
We will remove distress. And in many ways technology has removed much of the physical distress. But what has happened is still people are in distress.
Maybe physically we are comfortable. But at the level of the mind there are so many problems. So we have tried to create a tech paradise.
But the result of that is we are comfortably miserable. What that means is at the level of the body we may be comfortable. But at the level of the mind we are still miserable.
In fact mental health problems are far more than in the past. And it is irony that psychologists are still grappling with. In the past life was much tougher.
And yet people didn't seem to have so much mental health problems. Now life is relative. At least at the physical level it is much easier.
Very few of us live with the fear that some tiger is going to pounce on us and eat us. Isn't it? Very few of us live in the fear that a snake is going to bite us and kill us. But still we are in distress.
So the point is that our mind it wants something bigger. I will come to that. So another way that if the tech paradise is not working then another way is fictional paradise.
Fictional paradise means like I was talking about movies. For many people who become fans of some kind of movie universe whether it is Star Wars or it is Harry Potter or this or that. I don't know what are there in India.
For people these movie characters they are in many ways more real than the ordinary reality. People have these comic cons where they wear dresses like these characters. So basically the point is the world we live in is dissatisfying.
And that is why we want to go to some other world. And entertainment, movies these are a way to create another world by which we forget the emptiness, the boredom, the dissatisfactoriness of this world. So basically materialism has not been a very satisfactory solution.
The physical level comfort has come up but it has not worked. So basically if we consider the material world then above this there is a spiritual world and below this we could say there is a fictional world. So now we have rejected that there is no such spiritual world.
So what we can try to do we have escape from reality. In fact people also use the word. In a movie review they say this movie is great escapist entertainment.
Escapist entertainment means we just forget all the world with its problems. So we basically create an alternative reality. Because the reality that we live in is just so unsatisfactory.
Now what spirituality says is that yes this world is real but there is another reality. Let's come to that. So this is a problematic world view.
But this world is, the other world is unreal and even this world is unreal. That is called nihilism. Nihilism is basically there is no point to existence at all.
And among all world views this can be the darkest. So even in the last century there are some existential philosophers. They realize the falsity of the promises of technology.
That technology won't provide all it promises us. And now the idea of another world is removed and this world is a place of distress. So what do you do? Alberto Camus an existential philosopher he said that, I am paraphrasing.
He said that the world is just filled with misery. And the more we try to remove misery the worse it becomes. Therefore the only philosophical question worth asking is whether to commit suicide today or tomorrow.
It's such a dark view. And the philosopher Sartre he said that anytime I pass close to a window on a 4th or 5th story of a building. I have to find the temptation to jump off that window.
It's such a dark view of the world. Now these were intelligent people but unfortunately they had rejected the idea of a spiritual world. And this world with all its promises if we reject this also as false then what is the point of living? So nihilism is a very dark place to be in.
Now the third is that the other world is real but this world is false. This is impersonalism. So impersonalism is the idea that brahma satya jagan vidya.
This whole world is false. Now this there is a strand of Indian philosophy that advocates this. But this is not the teaching of Indian philosophy in all of it.
And this is certainly not the teaching of the Bhagavad Gita. In fact the Bhagavad Gita considers this world to be so important that when there is disorder in this world Krishna himself descends to establish order here. And he comes not just once but sambhavami yuge yuge.
So this world is real, this world matters. So this is impersonalism. What is the problem? First is it is not the Gita's teaching clearly.
The Gita says that even if they say this world is dukkhalaya it doesn't say this world is false. It says parastasmanat bhavam. This is another world.
Now the other bigger problem apart from it not being the Gita's teaching is that this makes us very apathetic. Completely apathetic towards anything in this world. So it is one of history's great mystery that how the Indian civilization which was such an ancient and powerful civilization it succumbed to invaders again and again and again.
When the Islamic invaders came to India generally it is very rare that the invading army will be bigger than the defending army. Maybe the defending army for the small kingdom is possible. It is a big kingdom.
But time and time again it is not just one Islamic invader. Many invaders came and they repeatedly defeated Indian kings. Now we can go into geopolitical reasons and there is validity to those reasons.
But one of the points was that in the medieval times, medieval times means see Shankaracharya appeared in the 7th century. Whatever Shankaracharya taught subsequently the teaching became very world denying and world rejecting. And because of that there was an attitude of apathy towards the world.
So whoever rules, this person rules or that person rules, it doesn't make any difference. Now the Kshatriyas, many of them were not like that. But the rest of the society became quite apathetic.
And even the British commented on this that when there was a famine during the British time, they said if in Britain a famine like this would have happened, the masses would have risen in revolution. But India is just accepting the mass. This world is Maya, whatever happens is just going on.
So one European philosopher, he came to India and he said that when I read about Indian philosophy, it is so lofty. When I came to India and I look at the way people live, it is so filthy. I just couldn't have this cognitive dissonance.
How can people who had such lofty thoughts, the philosophical ponderings were so great, how can they live in such poverty, such filth, such utter apathy towards their daily way of living? One reason for that is this world rejecting philosophy. If this world is Maya, why care for this world at all? So this can have disastrous consequences. Now the Gita's teaching, it's Bhakti teaching.
Bhakti or Gita teaching is that this world is real and the other world also is real. That this world is also an energy of God. This world exists, this world matters.
It is not false. However, this world is not the ultimate world. There is another world that matters more.
So what happens is, this is, we all, with the Gita's worldview, because this world is real, we work in this world. But we understand that our ultimate shelter is not in this world. So this is actually a life affirming.
It affirms both in this life and in the next life. That we serve God in this world and as a service to God, we do our responsibilities properly. Like we consider the environment, this is the eco-village.
One of the aspects of India, unfortunately, is that even the sacred places are very dirty. People will come and worship in the temple, but when they come out of the temple, there is garbage everywhere. Because what has happened is, it's almost like the sacred is disconnected from the rest of the world.
But if we understand, this world has also come from God. This world also has sanctity to it. We need to take care of this world.
Now we don't have to become so obsessed with this world that we forget the other world. This world is real and the other world also is real. So now, with this in mind, I was talking basically about how the Gita is not pessimistic.
When it says that this world is dukkhalaya, what is it trying to say? Basically, what it is saying is that when we are living in this world, distress, distress is always going to be a part of our life experience. Whatever we do, there will always be something wrong in the world. When the Gita says this world is dukkhalaya, distress is always going to be a part of the world.
So the word dukkhalaya is like the word Himalayas. Now if somebody goes to the Himalayas and we ask them, why have you come to the Himalayas? He says, I want to avoid feeling cold. Well, then you are in the wrong place.
Cold is going to be a part of the experience of being in the Himalayas. But, and if somebody starts complaining, oh it's so cold, it's so cold, it's so cold. Other people will say, you know, what you are saying is so old, so old, so old.
Get over it. But does cold have to be the only experience in the Himalayas? No. The Himalayas are a place of great beauty.
There are natural beauties there. There is adventure. Those who want to go on trekking.
There is spirituality. There is, for those who want to go and see the temples, maybe meet the sages, go to sacred places. So there are so many other things to experience over there.
But, we can experience all those things only when we accept that cold is going to be a part of my life. My experience over there. So like that, when the Gita is saying this word Dukkha Laya, that does not mean Dukkha has to be our only experience.
But distress will always be a part of our experience. And if we focus on trying to eliminate distress, then that will only aggravate the distress. Why? Because the more we try to eliminate distress, even a small amount of distress will seem unbearable.
I was in Canada. I stayed at one devotee's house. So the husband, he is a businessman but he also does marriages.
He is a priest who does marriages. And his wife is in family law. Now family law is just a euphemism, polite word for she is a divorce attorney.
So they say we are a poor couple. You come to the husband to get married, you come to the wife to get separated. But the wife was telling me that she is in Canada.
Sometimes people come for such reasons that they want to get separated. So one woman came and she said why do you want to get separated? He says because my husband and I, we cannot agree on the temperature of the AC in our home. Now, well, that's a common problem I was told for families.
But is that something worth getting separated about? There are so many people who don't have ACs in their homes. There are so many people who don't even have homes. Isn't it? But her reasoning was, you know, I got married at the age of 31, she said.
I was waiting and waiting to find my dream partner. And he said, if he is my dream partner, if he is what they call my Mr. Right, then our body temperature should be synchronized. Now, that is an unrealistic expectation.
The point I am making over here is, if we expect that there should be no distress in my life, then even a small distress will become very big. But if we accept that whatever is going to happen, some distress will always be there. Then we accept that and then we focus on something bigger in our life.
So I said that I'm going to talk about the teachings of the Gita in terms of an acronym act. So the first part of it is A, accept that distress is unavoidable. Stop trying to, stop making our life's purpose removing distress.
If we are trying to, then what do we do? If we go to the Himalayas, we have a higher purpose. Okay, I want to get to the peaks. I want to behold these sights.
So we want to, we want to have a higher purpose to our lives. So Krishna is telling Arjuna in the context of the Gita that distress is going to be unavoidable. You think that fighting and killing Nishma and Drona is distressful? But if you don't fight, what is going to happen? Duryodhana is going to try to attack and kill your family, kill your allies.
That is going to cause distress to you. Even if you can protect your allies and use the Drona forest, he will keep tormenting innocent people. That will cause distress to you.
So distress is unavoidable, unavoidable. Don't make decisions solely based on how can I avoid distress. So attempting to run away from unhappiness is often the cause of the greatest unhappiness.
Like addictions. And what happens is people have some problem. And they think I'll just drink and I'll get away from this unhappiness.
So basically running away from distress, it only leads to increasing our distress. It itself becomes the cause of greater distress. This, of course, does not mean that we have to stay forever in distress.
Like in the Himalayas, it is not that we have to live without wearing warm clothes. We can wear warm clothes, but some cold will come in and tolerate it. So when Krishna is saying Dukkhaalaya Shashvatah, Krishna is telling basically that don't try to avoid distress.
Don't make your decisions based on what will cause more distress. So then what do we do? So that is the C and T, which we'll be talking about later. But the idea is that we cultivate a purpose that makes distress bearable.
Not just a purpose, a meaningful purpose. Like I gave the example when people have a child, they lose their sleep. But then taking care of a child, bringing a new form, life form into the world, life into the world, that is profoundly meaningful.
So cultivate a meaningful purpose, a purpose that is meaningful enough to make the distress bearable. And that purpose, while there can be many purposes, that purpose Krishna says ultimately is devotional service. Service to the Lord.
We'll come to these points a little later. But when we understand that God is the well-wisher of everyone and God wants me to be an instrument in doing good in the world. God wants me to become a part of His plan.
Then each one of us can have a purpose. This point of purpose we'll discuss when we come to the 18th chapter once again. And then we'll discuss the 18th chapter rather.
We'll come to the T part also later. But essentially the Gita is not a message of pessimism. That's the second point of this 8th chapter.
Now I'll go quickly to the 9th chapter. Now in the 9th chapter Krishna talks of many things. But the focus is, now Krishna has said that Bhakti Yoga is easier than Ashtanga Yoga.
Then he gives four characteristics of Bhakti Yoga. Why is it easier? Why is it better? So these four characteristics are basically from the 9th chapter, 20th verse to 33rd verse. So Krishna says that this is, it's E-A-S-E's.
E is eternal. It gives results that are eternal. Krishna says all other paths will give you temporary results.
You'll go to heavens but you'll come back again. When you practice Bhakti, you'll come to me. And you'll stay eternally with me.
This is basically a comparison from 20th to 22nd. Whatever you practice, it will always stay with me. Then he says it is accessible.
Accessible for everyone. Everybody can practice it. This he talks especially in 31-32 or rather 32-33.
He says that maaṁ hi pārtha vyāpāśhitya ye pisu pāpaṇam me. Anyone and everyone can practice Bhakti. Many other spiritual paths, they say that you have to be born in a particular caste.
Or you have to renounce the world before you can practice spirituality. But Bhakti is accessible to everyone. Then he says it is simple.
That's what he says in 26-27. bhaktraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati That you don't need a lot of wealth and power and expertise to practice Bhakti. Just whatever devotion is in the heart, you express that devotion in whatever way you can.
Even if we offer the Lord one flower in a devotional mood, the Lord accepts our devotion. So Bhakti is simple. And when you say it is simple, what it means is it does not require complicated skills or complicated paraphernalia.
It can be simply practiced by anyone and everyone. And lastly, it is elevating. Elevating means that even if a person has done something wrong, even if a person has done something sinful, Krishna doesn't reject that person.
apichet sudrācāraṁ bhajate māmanyāk Even if you have done something sinful, Krishna says, if you want to practice Bhakti, I won't reject you. I won't reject you. I will be with you.
There is in the Vishnu Sahasranama, a very beautiful description that nimisho nimisho svāgri vāchaspati rudāradhi So nimisho and animisho. Now these two words, they have many different meanings. Madhavacharya says that each word, each of the names of the Vishnu Sahasranama, one word, one name can have a thousand meanings.
But Vallabhijam has a few meanings. So he says that nimisho means one who blinks his eyes. Animisho means one who never blinks his eyes.
So what does it mean? That if we are trying to serve the Lord and we commit some mistakes, the Lord blinks the eyes and overlooks the mistakes. On the other hand, if we are doing a service, even if we do the smallest service, the Lord knows that service with unblinking eyes. That is His mercifulness.
So animisho, who never blinks eyes. An example for this is that we consider Putana. She came to kill Krishna.
Now her motive was wrong, but she still offered her breast milk. So Krishna closed his eyes. He overlooked her motive and he elevated and liberated her.
Aho bakiyam istakalam. He elevated and liberated her. On the other hand, if we consider Draupadi.
At one time Krishna was at Pandava's place and Krishna and Arjuna were talking, so Draupadi came over there. She offered them some fruits and they were having some intimate discussions. So Draupadi started walking away.
So Krishna took a knife and started peeling the fruits. He was peeling, the knife slipped from his hand and his finger got cut. And the finger got cut.
Draupadi noticed he came running back. She pulled off a part of her sari and immediately started bandaging Krishna. And she was bandaging Krishna.
She was in anxiety, but Krishna was pleased and smiling. O Panchali, I will remember this service that you have rendered to me. And then he remembered and rewarded that service.
When did he reward? Kushtara. Yes, in the Kushtara Haridwar. She offered a small part of her sari and Krishna gave her unlimited robes.
So such is the Lord that even if we do a small service, he never forgets that service. And that's why the Gita says that, Krishna says, yes, this world is Dukhalaya. That you have attained this Dukhalaya world.
Bhajaswama. Anitya vasukham lokam imam prapte bhajaswama. That this Lord, whatever little we do for him, he loves us, he cares for us, he wants to elevate us.
The Lord is present in our hearts. And he is there in our hearts, he is watching, he is the witness. And he is witness not to catch us when we do wrong.
That is not his purpose. It is not like a policeman who is waiting for someone to commit a crime. Like in some of the big cities in the western world.
The police want to earn, the government wants to earn through, they can't earn through fines. Taxes they earn through fines. So anybody who goes a little above the speed limit, the police come and immediately give tickets.
They are waiting to catch a person doing wrong. But Krishna is there to catch us when we fall. He is like a mother.
When a small child is learning to walk, the mother is watching with a hawk's eye. And she is pleased with every step that the baby takes, the toddler takes. And as soon as the toddler starts falling, the mother swoops in to catch hold of the child.
So Krishna is like that. Krishna is watching us, but he is on our side. He is not against us.
He is not watching us to punish us when we do wrong. He is watching us to help us grow, to protect us and elevate us. Such is the Lord's love for us.
And it is that Lord whom we can connect with through the practice of Bhakti Yoga. So we will continue in our next session about the chapters 10, 11 and 12. I will take in the evening and then we will have our journey based on the Bhagavad Gita.
So I will quickly summarize what we discussed today. So we discussed chapters 7 to 9 we discussed today. The first point I discussed was how the Gita is a natural conversation.
That means it's not a structured conversation. It's not exactly like a structured course. So as the subjects come up, the Gita addresses those subjects.
And from the theme of detachment, being detached that was there. From there the Gita comes to fixing the mind of the Lord. And now 7.1 till 12.20. How to make the mind attached.
That is the focus. So we discussed that here the process by which we can make the mind attached. That's what was discussed from 7.1 onwards.
So now the second point I discussed was based on 7.16 to 7.19. That how the journey of spiritual growth happens. Initially God is like the world is a big reality and God is the small reality. But eventually what happens? The world becomes a small reality.
God becomes a bigger reality. So we may practice spiritual growth initially as a shock absorber. But eventually becomes a goal transformer.
First here God is like the last alternative for us. Like a boy comes to a girl because nobody else is ready to marry her. But then the boy becomes committed to the girl.
That is like God becomes our first alternative. Then based on chapter 8 we discussed how Krishna has explained Bhakti Yoga is better than Dhyan Yoga. Why? Because with respect to meditation, the object of meditation.
In Bhakti Yoga it is active and attractive. So Krishna is himself attractive and Krishna is active in terms of giving mercy. In Dhyan Yoga it is passive.
We are focusing on some point externally, some object visualized. So it's much easier in Bhakti Yoga. Then we talked about that is the Gita pessimistic? This was what I spent the maximum time on.
I discussed from the contextual, contextual that Arjuna is in distress. The Gita does not say stay in distress. It removes his distress, textual.
That's just one fourth of one verse. And the point is you can go beyond distress. And the philosophical is we discussed how there are four worlds, this world and the other world.
And we discussed four philosophies, materialism, nihilism, impersonalism and then the devotional Gita worldview. So this is the most life affirming. And the Gita says that when you stop avoiding distress, focus on cultivating a meaningful purpose.
And then distress will become minimal. And the ninth chapter discussed two points. Rather, I focused on one point from the ninth chapter, that is the acronym.
How the glory of Bhakti Yoga is. What was E was? It offers eternal results. A was? Accessible for everyone.
S was? Simple. Anybody can practice, just offer. E was? Elevating.
So here, especially we discussed how Krishna, he is unblinking and blinking. So if you're doing service, he unblinkingly notices. And if he makes a mistake, he just blinks and overlooks the mistakes.
So Krishna is, he's watching, but he's watching for our good, for our elevation. He's like a mother who is watching when a child falls. Not to laugh at the child when the child falls, not to punish the child when the child falls, but to catch the child and raise the child.
Such is the love of the Lord for all of us. Thank you very much. Hare Krishna.
So we have gone a little over time now. Yeah, the next session is at four o'clock. So, V Chetanku is here.
Karan Pooja, any comments? Four aspects of the philosophical element in the 9th chapter, which we have explained, I think is very, very crucial. And today's reality is 80% of spiritual practitioners in India are more or less in the impersonal category. And Vanamshita Prabhupada's, the Pranam Mantra says, Nirvishesha Kshunyavani, Vashishtha Videsha Tatva.
It basically caters to two of those, you know. So, Vashishtha Videsha is a type of materialism. So all three are covered.
Okay, that's brilliant. And we've been giving bhakti to all. So, now the biggest challenge is how is Kaun and with all of Srila Prabhupada's statements against all of these other philosophical thoughts, how to integrate? Because on a philosophical level, at a practitioner level, we are totally absorbed in our bhakti.
But at a social political level, the narratives which we have set, and especially with our founder coming out in the open with statements, makes things very difficult for any potential collaborations. And even if we make attempts at collaboration, it is many times misunderstood by the practitioners because of the standard which has been taken. So moving forward, you know, to run an organization, to run an institution, Srila Prabhupada always said you need land, capital, labor, money, vertical growth.
So that's a very important confusion which we need to resolve at some point of time as an institution. And another problem is everything is in the public domain. Prabhupada's books are in public, that's fine.
But why the conversations and why the private discussions have been made public? So that creates many, many embarrassing, challenging situations for his contribution when we are trying to collaborate. No, that's true, definitely, and it is a challenge. Just make two points.
Prabhupada himself was that way, nuanced, like when Prabhupada met Dr. Patel, not Dr. Mishra, who was at his Mishra Yadav studio, you met him later. Hiraj Mahal also mentions this time. Prabhupada had a very, he came after his firm was established and they had a very nice conversation, they had lunch together.
And we would ask him, Prabhupada, we thought that this Mishra is an impersonalist. And Prabhupada said, yes, philosophically we argue like anything, but culturally we are friends. So it's like if you consider a person, an individual or an organization, often their philosophy is only one part of their identity.
There could be culture would be there, their humanitarian work would be there, their national affiliation would be there, their educational work would be there. So there are so many different aspects to people. In fact, we may condemn Mayavad, but we have a very Mayavadi view of all of reality otherwise.
That means everything is one. People, while Prabhupada has made those statements, but Prabhupada has also nuanced his approach. It was not that George Harrison, he made so many impersonal statements in Prabhupada's presence.
If you look at the conversation that Prabhupada had with George Harrison, Prabhupada said that, Swami says this and Swami says that. Prabhupada doesn't want a missionary beauty all of them. Prabhupada just focuses on talking about bhakti.
So my point is that, yes, philosophically we don't have to compromise. But for many people, philosophy is only a small part of their identity. Most of the life members who helped Prabhupada, they were already initiated disciples of many Mayavadi gurus.
And I talked with Viraj Maharaj about this. He said that when he went to their homes, there are big pictures of these Mayavadi gurus in their homes. When Prabhupada would go to their home, Prabhupada hardly commented on that.
Prabhupada engaged them in service. So basically, he used not their philosophical affiliation, but their, you could say, nationalist cultural pride. Oh, this Swami from India has made western people disciples.
So Prabhupada is an expert in engaging people. Yes, Prabhupada's statements are there. At the same time, I feel that if we, the way we conduct ourselves and we represent ourselves, then that can have a significant impact.
So while confronting at a philosophical level where it's required, it's also important that we don't reduce people to their philosophical belief. Because we ourselves say that an individual is more than their head. Isn't it? The heart is the most important thing.
So, this is when Radha Ramana was, I was asking him this question, so Radha Ramana was telling me that one of these life members who helped Prabhupada, he went to meet him when he was in his last days. And he says he was so big and initiated. But when I saw him, he just, he just with so much enthusiasm started glorifying Prabhupada.
And he said, I was talking with him, I was thinking that when this person departs, what is Krishna going to see? Is Krishna going to see that this person was initiated by a Mayavadi guru? Or is Krishna going to see that this person served my, served my devotee Prabhupada so much and has so much love for Prabhupada? He says Krishna is Bhavgrahi. So what has happened is more than the statement that Prabhupada has made, it's like some statements of Prabhupada, some actions of Prabhupada have been highlighted. And we reduce Prabhupada only to those statements.
So in Prabhupada's statement only, in Prabhupada's example, there are alternative examples also. So at a cultural level, at a national level, we can definitely collaborate. But it's a challenge to be honest.
Thank you. So we'll have question answers later in tomorrow. So I'll tell our plan now.
So in the next session, I'll be covering chapters 10, 11, 12 in the first half. In the second half, we'll have journaling. And tomorrow, in the first half, we'll be covering chapters 13 to around first half of 18 or 17.
And in the last 10, 12 verses, they are very, from 63 to 78, the 16 verses, they are very devotionally surcharged. And we'll talk that in our second session tomorrow morning. And the last session tomorrow evening, we'll have specifically question answers.
And if there are no questions, then we'll have a second journaling session at that time also. So thank you very much. Srimad Bhagavad Gita Ki Jai.
Srila Prabhupada Ki Jai. Gaur Bhakta Vrinda Ki Jai. Vaishnava Chaitanya Saran Prabhu Ki Jai.