"Dharma Kshetre Kuru Kshetre"
"On this Field of Dharma, on this Field of the Kurus...."
With that first line, begins the Bhagavad Gita. The blind King Dhritrashtra asks his minister Sanjaya to tell him what is occurring between his own sons and the sons of his dead brother Pandu, the Pandavas, on the field of Dharma and the field of the Kurus (his ancestors and lineage). The field of the battle is known as Kurukshetra as it belongs to the Kuru people, which both the Pandavas and Kauravas belong to. The more pertinent name of Dharma Kshetra is applied to this field at this time because this is the place that the olden code of Dharma battles with the new code of Dharma as put forth by Krishna. It is on this field that Dharma as righteousnes, law, justice and morality will play out.
One of the most perplexing and amorphous words in any language is the word Dharma. It has a wide range of meanings from natural law, positive law, morality, tradition, justice, righteousness, duty, religion and harmony. Those are its most used meanings. Dharma literally means "that which upholds or sustains". In the Gita, Krishna uses Dharma in nearly every conceivable sense of the word to fully flesh out the complexity of the human and even the divine existence. Dharma is the starting point and the ending point of the Gita, if not of all Hindu and Buddhist thought. As such, through out this series of posts I will keep referring back to this conception.
Duryodhana, the antagonist, approaches his teacher Dronacharya, who is also the commander in chief of the Kaurava army. He asks to describe the relative strength of his army and also the armies of the Pandavas. The mighty and vast armies of both sides are then described focusing on the greatest warriors on each side. The Pandavas have 7 massive regiments and the Kauravas have 11 massive regiments totaling nearly 4 million people. The Kauravas blow their conches and trumpets while beating their drums. The sound shakes the very ground. The Pandavas respond in kind but the sound of their divine conches appears to shatter the very firmaments of the earth and sky. At this point, lifts up his bow Gandiva, an indestructible celestial bow and then straps on his two inexhaustible quivers of arrows. He stands on his invincible chariot, a gift from the Devas or gods.
Arjuna looks at Krishna, his charioteer and then asks him to drive his chariot in between both armies so that he can fully grasp the logistics of both sides. Krishna without a word does so. He drives the golden chariot between both sides and stops. Arjuna then spends a few minutes looking between both sides. The desire for battle begins to slowly whittle away when he sees his brothers, uncles, friends, cousins, nephews, teachers and even his grandfather all aligned against each other. The inevitability of this war, if not all wars, dawns upon him. He will have to kill those he loves and cares about. Suddenly, it hits him, all war specifically this war will kill generations of people and kill people who have a connection with each other.
The sanskrit verses that follow and describe Arjuna's feelings are simply touching and absolutely humanizing but for the sake of brevity I will give a synopsis. Arjuna sees all his friends and relatives on both sides ready to fight and kill each other. A wave of compassion crashes into him and he comprehends the simple fact that here on this field all these ties of family, relations and friendship are tossed aside and replaced with a desire to kill. Years of love, emotions and experiences together suddenly become merely a pebble to step over. With that realization, the reality of heinous act of killing strikes his very core. The physical reactions begin first, his limbs start to quiver, his body trembles, his mouth dries up, the hair on his body stands up and the celestial Gandiva in his hand begins to slip from him grasp. His mind begins to spin and he loses his balance. Shock sets in and the fight is leaving him....
Arjuna explains a very ethical, compassionate and practical view. What good comes from killing those we care about even if we gain all of the universe, when those who we would like to share it with will die here too? Even if those who want to kill us are prompted by greed, why should we who know better also engage in killing? How can we happy in killing others especially our own family and friends just for land and rights? By killing people we destroy families leaving women and children alone. When families are destroy the foundations of society and tradition are corrupted leading to a cycle of pain and problems, not to mention sin attaching to those who kill, so why fight this war and kill? Why should we engage in the sinful act of killing so that we can claim our right to govern?
Arjuna ends by telling Krishna, "It is better that the Kauravas, the sons of my uncle Dhritrashtra, kill me unarmed and unresisting than me killing them and gaining the kingdom." He then throws down his bow and arrows, sitting down in his chariot.
The first chapter of the Gita is an important one because Arjuna presents to Krishna and us, all the human emotions and rationale that come with weight of killing and war. Arjuna, here is the everyman or woman. He connects to us as the reader or listener and explains our own qualms about the very act of killing. Why should we fight and kill another being especially those whom we love for something as intangible as a right or something as inconsequential as property? Arjuna captures the idea of a cycle of violence, to hurt or kill another will not no matter what lead to good results, the potential for more pain and problems grows. Furthermore, the individual who commits those acts becomes burdened with both the sin of the action and the psychological consequences. Arjuna, like most of us, is filled with compassion and restraint from harming those we are close to as the pain and loss from that is lifelong. He then resolves to not fight and allow himself to be killed if attacked. Thus ends Chapter 1 of the Gita and sets the scene for Krishna's response. Comments...?
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Sunday, February 08, 2009
Brief Background of the Bhagavad Gita
To fully appreciate and understand the various strata that are layered on the Gita, it is important to understand the events and story that led up to that moment. The Gita is situated in the Mahabharata, the world's longest and largest epic, nearly 100,000 verses. For me to try and recap all of that in any succient and perfect would be a prodigious task that is probably beyond my skill and ability. So I will just present a very very brief synopsis that will work for our purposes.
The Gita begins off with two armies facing each other ready for complete annihilation. On one side is the side of the Pandavas including Arjuna and Krishna, who are fighting for their rightful claim to the throne and even more so that they are in fact legitimate members of the royal family. On the other side are the Kauravas including all the elders and family of the Pandavas. The Kauravas are the faternal cousins of the Pandavas. They have tried to poison, burn and exile the Pandavas. They also attempted to disrobe the common wife of the Pandavas, Draupadi in middle of court. The Pandavas were exiled from their land for 13 years and if they were to be discovered before that term ends they were to enter back into exile for another 13 years. They tried to assassinate the Pandavas while they were in exile and then refused to return the kingdom to the Pandavas when they successfully completed the terms of the exile.
After the exile, the Pandavas send Krishna as their messenger of peace. Krishna gives the Pandavas and the Kauravas a choice, between picking him and his world famous personal battalion the Narayana Seni. The caveat is that Krishna swears that he will not raise any weapon nor fight in the war but will only behave like a charioteer. Duryodhana and the Kauravas choose the Narayana Seni and essentially laughed at the Pandavas for picking Krishna. Krishna on behalf of the Pandavas, asks for peace and only 5 villages but the Kauravas led by Duryodhana, refuse to give them even enough land equal to that of a tip of a needle. It was at this point that the war became inevitable. Nonetheless the Pandavas tried to just avoid war but prodded on both their mother Kunti, their wife Draupadi and Krishna, they decide that war is the only course of action to assert their rights. Both sides amassed their armies in total about 4 million people and meet on the field of the Kurus. It is on the first day of battle that the Gita occurs.
The Gita is essentially a conversation within a conversation, the meta conversation is between Sanjaya, a minister of the Kurus, and King Dhritrashtra, the blind king who is the uncle of the Pandavas and father of the Kauravas. Sanjaya, who has been granted divine vision to observe all that occurs on the battlefield, conveys to Dhritrashtra all that transpires. As such he relates to Dhristrashtra the conversation between Krishna and Arjuna as they are situated between both the armies. Time is said to have slowed down as the conversation between Krishna and Arjuna took place. In the next post, I will start with Chapter 1 titled "The Despondency of Arjuna".
The Gita begins off with two armies facing each other ready for complete annihilation. On one side is the side of the Pandavas including Arjuna and Krishna, who are fighting for their rightful claim to the throne and even more so that they are in fact legitimate members of the royal family. On the other side are the Kauravas including all the elders and family of the Pandavas. The Kauravas are the faternal cousins of the Pandavas. They have tried to poison, burn and exile the Pandavas. They also attempted to disrobe the common wife of the Pandavas, Draupadi in middle of court. The Pandavas were exiled from their land for 13 years and if they were to be discovered before that term ends they were to enter back into exile for another 13 years. They tried to assassinate the Pandavas while they were in exile and then refused to return the kingdom to the Pandavas when they successfully completed the terms of the exile.
After the exile, the Pandavas send Krishna as their messenger of peace. Krishna gives the Pandavas and the Kauravas a choice, between picking him and his world famous personal battalion the Narayana Seni. The caveat is that Krishna swears that he will not raise any weapon nor fight in the war but will only behave like a charioteer. Duryodhana and the Kauravas choose the Narayana Seni and essentially laughed at the Pandavas for picking Krishna. Krishna on behalf of the Pandavas, asks for peace and only 5 villages but the Kauravas led by Duryodhana, refuse to give them even enough land equal to that of a tip of a needle. It was at this point that the war became inevitable. Nonetheless the Pandavas tried to just avoid war but prodded on both their mother Kunti, their wife Draupadi and Krishna, they decide that war is the only course of action to assert their rights. Both sides amassed their armies in total about 4 million people and meet on the field of the Kurus. It is on the first day of battle that the Gita occurs.
The Gita is essentially a conversation within a conversation, the meta conversation is between Sanjaya, a minister of the Kurus, and King Dhritrashtra, the blind king who is the uncle of the Pandavas and father of the Kauravas. Sanjaya, who has been granted divine vision to observe all that occurs on the battlefield, conveys to Dhritrashtra all that transpires. As such he relates to Dhristrashtra the conversation between Krishna and Arjuna as they are situated between both the armies. Time is said to have slowed down as the conversation between Krishna and Arjuna took place. In the next post, I will start with Chapter 1 titled "The Despondency of Arjuna".
Sunday, February 01, 2009
The Gita and Me
This past year has been a very interesting year for me. Beginning of the year was period in which I walked a path I never thought I would but in July things took a rather different spin. I think I found my center and my greater journey, I was inspired and also had a deep realization. I really owe a couple people my deepest heartfelt thanks and am blessed/honored to have been inspired by them, one day I will tell them personally but for now to them all I say Endaro Mahanu Bhavulu... "I offer my humble obeisances to all the great people".
I occasionally re-read the Bhagavad Gita, which to me is one of the greatest if not the greatest spiritual text of mankind. The Bhagavad Gita is traditionally said to have been spoken by Krishna to his cousin and friend Arjuna in the year 3137 B.C.E. on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, in the plains of the of what is near modern Delhi. Modern scholarship, based on linguistic analysis and comparison to various other texts, places the composition of the Gita from 500 B.C.E. to about 200 B.C.E.. Whatever the date of the actual composition or recitation of the Gita is, means little to most people who read it. It was the favorite book of Gandhi, Vivekananda, Henry Thoreau, Aldous Huxley, Robert Oppenheimer amongst other luminaries in all walks of life. It has influenced and changed the lives of millions if not billions of people, including mine.
The Gita is the conversation between Krishna and Arjuna, just as Arjuna is about to fight in the most pivotal war of his epoch. The war of Kurukshetra was a civil war of sorts but also involving every country, nation and tribe known to the ancient world of India. Arjuna, who was the greatest warrior of his time, became overcome with compassion and despondency. He was about to enter into war with his grandfather, his teachers, his friends, his family and his kinsmen. He had fought them on previous occasions but this battle was the war to end it all and he knew it.
Arjuna asks Krishna to draw his chariot in the field between the two armies. He looks across and sees all those he will fight and kill. He loses his nerve and refuses to fight. He is mouth drys up, he gets dizzy, his skin feels like its on fire and he drops his bow. He tells Krishna that he would rather let himself be killed than fight his loved ones. He tells Krishna that he has no desire to fight and is conflicted between what he is supposed to do and the feelings and angst he is going through. He then falls to Krishna's feet weeping asking him to instruct him. It is at this point that Krishna smirks and thus begins the perennial Bhagavad Gita, the Song of the Lord.
I read the Bhagavad Gita for the first time when I was 18 years old before that time it was merely something that my father had taught to me in snippets, I did not understand nor care to understand most of it. When senior year of high school came around, I began to become interested in my own cultural and literary background. I had been attending Catholic School for nearly four years and had imbibed in the Bible, both the old and new testament. I also became well acquainted with Catholic tradition, theology and dogma. It dawned on me, I knew more direct source material about non-Indian religious traditions than I did about Indian traditions.
It slowly became apparent to me that I should at least get a grasp on my own background, so I picked up the copy of the Gita we had at home, the one that nearly every gita owner has, the Hare Krsna one. It was from that moment on that the Gita became my best friend.
The Gita is a voice that spoke to me from ages past yet a voice that knew what I needed to hear. It is a text that has been with me through all my moments of darkness, despair and fear. When I was alone and confused, it brought me solace and clarity. When the world appeared bleak, the Gita gave me the lamp of knowledge. Where the world was Krishna through the Gita became more than just a friend but a deep confidant. It seems absurd for a man, I use that term loosely in reference to me, living in the 21st century to think that a person from possibly several millenium back could be a confidant but such is the case. Anytime I felt the weight of the world drop on my shoulders like that of Olympus and the titan Atlas, I would open the Gita and read. Suddenly it would be like all around me ceased or at least froze and Krishna, himself spoke to me. His voice was at once both deep with immense gravitas and yet with the air of play. As if he was pointing out the most sublime thing to me and saying look how obvious it is.
Krishna forces one to examine yourself from a myriad of perspectives. In the Gita, he weaves in various strata of analysis and also justifications. He uses keen psychological analysis to peel away the layers of ego and the lifetime of armor that we have levied on ourselves. He does so without even alerting us to it, as he does to Arjuna himself, where by the end of the entire text you have automatically without conscious understanding submitted yourself to his guidance. After he presents all his arguments and conversation he then says "yatha icchasi tatha kuru", which is "As you wish so should you do". Krishna never forces one to do what he asks but by the time one gets to that stage, Krishna has already won them over. The Gita delves into our very core and asks us to look at the root of all our problems and troubles. It dives into our emotions and fears finding in them our own desires and attachments as its root cause.
Aside from the religious truths that the Gita expounds, it also gives us practical advice on how to view life and our role in life. The foremost both in my mind and in many others is the idea that all we have the right to is the action not the fruit of that action. We have the right to act and we must act as we see our duty and let the consequences of that action fall where they may, there should be no attachment to them. To many this may seem a bit odd, but to fully grasp this idea one must understand the fundamental tenant of all Indian religious and philosophical systems, existence as we experience it is bondage and the goal is release from this bondage. Krishna's point is that any sort of attachment to the fruits of an action creates more bondage. As long as one's ego is still in the picture so does attachment remain and as long as attachment remains so one will remain trapped in this limited existence. The goal Krishna says is to act but to act without desire of "victory or defeat" but act because it is required of oneself and also to ensure that society continues to function. The God that the Gita gives us, is the only God I think that can exist.
Gita presents to us a God that at once both so amazing and transcendental yet so connected to all living things. The God of the Gita, is both beyond all duality and yet abides in the souls of all beings, baring witness to all their anguish, pain, fear, hurt and also their joy, happiness and love. He is the "mother, father, grandfather" of all beings. A deity who does not show favoritism nor does this deity turn away any faithful seeker, no matter what path or faith they chose to worship him. In fact, he says he comes to them as they worship him and even steadies/strengthens their faith. "So is the faith of a man, so is he" is what Krishna says. Krishna makes one believe that despite any pain, loneliness and desperation that they experience, he isn't faraway but in fact he is dwelling with us during that experience, never abandoning. He makes a promise to all those that seek him:
"man-mana bhava mad-bhakto
mad-yaji mam namaskuru
mam evaishyasi satyam te
pratijane priyo ’si me
sarva-dharman parityajya
mam ekam saranam vraja
aham tvam sarva-papebhyo
mokshayisyami ma sucah"
My translation:
"Think of me, become my devotee
Worship me and offer homage unto me
You will come to me, without fail
As you have become dear to me
Give up all your dharmas
seek refuge at my feet
I will release you from all evil
Do not grieve"
These two stanzas are the foundation of all bhakthi or devotion in modern Hinduism. They also contain in them the idea of a loving God, a god who will not abandon anyone that seeks Him/Her. Here the relational aspect of God becomes key, just as God becomes the focus of the devotee so does the Devotee become the focus of God, the devotee becomes dear to God. As Krishna says earlier that one who has become close to God can never be lost because he has placed his success/failure and all into God, forcing God to become his raft in the ocean of transmigratory existence.
He also reveals to Arjuna his universal form, the form that contains all things known and unknown. Both amazing and terrifying at once. This scene had such a big impact on the life of Robert Oppenheimer, the man behind the atomic bomb, that when he saw the power of the bomb he quoted the Gita specifically the line "Death I am, destroyer of all worlds". The Gita gives a fitting description of what looking at God would be akin to, "if hundreds of thousand suns were to rise in the sky at once, it MIGHT resemble the splendor of that great being". The amazing part of this description of the Universal Form is that, the Gita holds that this form is constantly around us and in fact we exist in this form but with our limited vision, we cannot see it. Krishna gives Arjuna divine vision to see it. It is in this chapter that we gain full understanding of who Krishna is and one of the most touching lines is when Arjuna who is Krishna's cousin recognizes Krishna's nature and apologizes for his own ignorance in his relationship.
The purpose of me writing this particular entry is I would like to relate to what this text means to me and in subsequent blogs I want to address the Gita chapter by chapter for all 18 chapters. I don't want do a straight translation but present my thoughts on the particular chapter and how it has affected me and how it pertains to us all. I hope you will all follow me on this journey of sorts and maybe at the least develop a respect for one of the greatest testaments to human thought. Hopefully something more! Any comments or questions are much appreciated and solicited!
"Yatra Yogeshwara Krishno
Yatra Partho Dhanurdharah
Tatra Shri Vijayor Bhutir
Dhruva Nitir Matir Mama"
"Wherever there is Krishna, the Lord of Yoga
Wherever there is Arjuna, the Wielder of the Bow
There is also certainly Opulence, Victory, Power
and Law/Morality/Ethics, such is my opinion"
- Mukunda
I occasionally re-read the Bhagavad Gita, which to me is one of the greatest if not the greatest spiritual text of mankind. The Bhagavad Gita is traditionally said to have been spoken by Krishna to his cousin and friend Arjuna in the year 3137 B.C.E. on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, in the plains of the of what is near modern Delhi. Modern scholarship, based on linguistic analysis and comparison to various other texts, places the composition of the Gita from 500 B.C.E. to about 200 B.C.E.. Whatever the date of the actual composition or recitation of the Gita is, means little to most people who read it. It was the favorite book of Gandhi, Vivekananda, Henry Thoreau, Aldous Huxley, Robert Oppenheimer amongst other luminaries in all walks of life. It has influenced and changed the lives of millions if not billions of people, including mine.
The Gita is the conversation between Krishna and Arjuna, just as Arjuna is about to fight in the most pivotal war of his epoch. The war of Kurukshetra was a civil war of sorts but also involving every country, nation and tribe known to the ancient world of India. Arjuna, who was the greatest warrior of his time, became overcome with compassion and despondency. He was about to enter into war with his grandfather, his teachers, his friends, his family and his kinsmen. He had fought them on previous occasions but this battle was the war to end it all and he knew it.
Arjuna asks Krishna to draw his chariot in the field between the two armies. He looks across and sees all those he will fight and kill. He loses his nerve and refuses to fight. He is mouth drys up, he gets dizzy, his skin feels like its on fire and he drops his bow. He tells Krishna that he would rather let himself be killed than fight his loved ones. He tells Krishna that he has no desire to fight and is conflicted between what he is supposed to do and the feelings and angst he is going through. He then falls to Krishna's feet weeping asking him to instruct him. It is at this point that Krishna smirks and thus begins the perennial Bhagavad Gita, the Song of the Lord.
I read the Bhagavad Gita for the first time when I was 18 years old before that time it was merely something that my father had taught to me in snippets, I did not understand nor care to understand most of it. When senior year of high school came around, I began to become interested in my own cultural and literary background. I had been attending Catholic School for nearly four years and had imbibed in the Bible, both the old and new testament. I also became well acquainted with Catholic tradition, theology and dogma. It dawned on me, I knew more direct source material about non-Indian religious traditions than I did about Indian traditions.
It slowly became apparent to me that I should at least get a grasp on my own background, so I picked up the copy of the Gita we had at home, the one that nearly every gita owner has, the Hare Krsna one. It was from that moment on that the Gita became my best friend.
The Gita is a voice that spoke to me from ages past yet a voice that knew what I needed to hear. It is a text that has been with me through all my moments of darkness, despair and fear. When I was alone and confused, it brought me solace and clarity. When the world appeared bleak, the Gita gave me the lamp of knowledge. Where the world was Krishna through the Gita became more than just a friend but a deep confidant. It seems absurd for a man, I use that term loosely in reference to me, living in the 21st century to think that a person from possibly several millenium back could be a confidant but such is the case. Anytime I felt the weight of the world drop on my shoulders like that of Olympus and the titan Atlas, I would open the Gita and read. Suddenly it would be like all around me ceased or at least froze and Krishna, himself spoke to me. His voice was at once both deep with immense gravitas and yet with the air of play. As if he was pointing out the most sublime thing to me and saying look how obvious it is.
Krishna forces one to examine yourself from a myriad of perspectives. In the Gita, he weaves in various strata of analysis and also justifications. He uses keen psychological analysis to peel away the layers of ego and the lifetime of armor that we have levied on ourselves. He does so without even alerting us to it, as he does to Arjuna himself, where by the end of the entire text you have automatically without conscious understanding submitted yourself to his guidance. After he presents all his arguments and conversation he then says "yatha icchasi tatha kuru", which is "As you wish so should you do". Krishna never forces one to do what he asks but by the time one gets to that stage, Krishna has already won them over. The Gita delves into our very core and asks us to look at the root of all our problems and troubles. It dives into our emotions and fears finding in them our own desires and attachments as its root cause.
Aside from the religious truths that the Gita expounds, it also gives us practical advice on how to view life and our role in life. The foremost both in my mind and in many others is the idea that all we have the right to is the action not the fruit of that action. We have the right to act and we must act as we see our duty and let the consequences of that action fall where they may, there should be no attachment to them. To many this may seem a bit odd, but to fully grasp this idea one must understand the fundamental tenant of all Indian religious and philosophical systems, existence as we experience it is bondage and the goal is release from this bondage. Krishna's point is that any sort of attachment to the fruits of an action creates more bondage. As long as one's ego is still in the picture so does attachment remain and as long as attachment remains so one will remain trapped in this limited existence. The goal Krishna says is to act but to act without desire of "victory or defeat" but act because it is required of oneself and also to ensure that society continues to function. The God that the Gita gives us, is the only God I think that can exist.
Gita presents to us a God that at once both so amazing and transcendental yet so connected to all living things. The God of the Gita, is both beyond all duality and yet abides in the souls of all beings, baring witness to all their anguish, pain, fear, hurt and also their joy, happiness and love. He is the "mother, father, grandfather" of all beings. A deity who does not show favoritism nor does this deity turn away any faithful seeker, no matter what path or faith they chose to worship him. In fact, he says he comes to them as they worship him and even steadies/strengthens their faith. "So is the faith of a man, so is he" is what Krishna says. Krishna makes one believe that despite any pain, loneliness and desperation that they experience, he isn't faraway but in fact he is dwelling with us during that experience, never abandoning. He makes a promise to all those that seek him:
"man-mana bhava mad-bhakto
mad-yaji mam namaskuru
mam evaishyasi satyam te
pratijane priyo ’si me
sarva-dharman parityajya
mam ekam saranam vraja
aham tvam sarva-papebhyo
mokshayisyami ma sucah"
My translation:
"Think of me, become my devotee
Worship me and offer homage unto me
You will come to me, without fail
As you have become dear to me
Give up all your dharmas
seek refuge at my feet
I will release you from all evil
Do not grieve"
These two stanzas are the foundation of all bhakthi or devotion in modern Hinduism. They also contain in them the idea of a loving God, a god who will not abandon anyone that seeks Him/Her. Here the relational aspect of God becomes key, just as God becomes the focus of the devotee so does the Devotee become the focus of God, the devotee becomes dear to God. As Krishna says earlier that one who has become close to God can never be lost because he has placed his success/failure and all into God, forcing God to become his raft in the ocean of transmigratory existence.
He also reveals to Arjuna his universal form, the form that contains all things known and unknown. Both amazing and terrifying at once. This scene had such a big impact on the life of Robert Oppenheimer, the man behind the atomic bomb, that when he saw the power of the bomb he quoted the Gita specifically the line "Death I am, destroyer of all worlds". The Gita gives a fitting description of what looking at God would be akin to, "if hundreds of thousand suns were to rise in the sky at once, it MIGHT resemble the splendor of that great being". The amazing part of this description of the Universal Form is that, the Gita holds that this form is constantly around us and in fact we exist in this form but with our limited vision, we cannot see it. Krishna gives Arjuna divine vision to see it. It is in this chapter that we gain full understanding of who Krishna is and one of the most touching lines is when Arjuna who is Krishna's cousin recognizes Krishna's nature and apologizes for his own ignorance in his relationship.
The purpose of me writing this particular entry is I would like to relate to what this text means to me and in subsequent blogs I want to address the Gita chapter by chapter for all 18 chapters. I don't want do a straight translation but present my thoughts on the particular chapter and how it has affected me and how it pertains to us all. I hope you will all follow me on this journey of sorts and maybe at the least develop a respect for one of the greatest testaments to human thought. Hopefully something more! Any comments or questions are much appreciated and solicited!
"Yatra Yogeshwara Krishno
Yatra Partho Dhanurdharah
Tatra Shri Vijayor Bhutir
Dhruva Nitir Matir Mama"
"Wherever there is Krishna, the Lord of Yoga
Wherever there is Arjuna, the Wielder of the Bow
There is also certainly Opulence, Victory, Power
and Law/Morality/Ethics, such is my opinion"
- Mukunda
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Nurturing of the Soul
ahimsA prathamam pushpam
pushpam indriya-nigraha
sarva-bhUta-dayA pushpam
kshamA pushpam viSeshata
jnAnam pushpam tapa: pushpam
dhyAnam pushpam tathaiva cha
satyam ashtavidham pushpam
vishno: prItikaram bhavet
Meaning:
Ahimsa (non-violence)is the first flower
Controlling of the senses is the second flower
Compassion for ALL BEINGS is the third flower
Quality of Forgiveness is the fourth
Knowledge the fifth, Austerity the sixth
and Concentration the seven
Truth is the eighth flower
All eight of these flowers are dear to Vishnu
This is a prayer or stotra by the name of Prapanna Parijatam,
or Offering of Flower by the Surrendering one. It was written
around 12th century by Varadacharya. Essentially it is describing
what offering the individual should make to God. My father taught me this
when I was a young boy, it has stuck with me since. The import of this
stotra is that one doesn't need offer anything material to God aside
from one's own qualities and actions. Meaning that our lives themselves
are an offering.
The list of 8 qualities above are pivotal for our individual spiritual,
psychological and moral development. Non-violence is the first and foremost
of all the flowers. Non-violence isn't just an action but a state of mind
and philosophy on life. Life itself is fundamentally a violent activity, for
us to live we necessarily harm others. When we breath we kill millions of bacteria,
walking kills the insects on the ground we step on, we kill animals and plants for
food and so on. Clearly here, we are asked to have a mentality of non-violence,
which includes acting non-violently. Non-violence doesn't require that we absolutely
abhor or stop our lives but that when possible we avoid harm in action, word, deed or
thought.
The next important offering is the controlling of the senses. It is imperative to
understand that in Hindu and Buddhist thought it has never meant that one subjugate
the desires or the senses, that is simply near impossible speaking from a practical perspective.
What is meant is that we must control our actions which stem from our senses. To do so, we must understand the
psychology of the mind. Our senses are entirely at the whim of our minds and emotions.
Our eye sees something and suddenly we desire it, we cannot dismiss that desire nor
can we fight the desire itself because it is ingrained in us. What we can do is control
our actions. We can either allow the desire to control us or we can control it.
Empirical Studies in consciousness conducted by Benjamin Libet have shown that in most cases
we begin to act even before we are conscious of it, there is approximately 200 milliseconds
between when the action starts and we are conscious of it. In fact, what we have is a veto power
which usually is invoked around 100-150 milliseconds before the action is fully in effect.
What this requires is that we understand the action before we undertake it. Before anger sets in
we should understand its root and quell it. Understanding the root will allow for the mind to be
controlled.
The third flower is vitally important one too. Compassion for all beings. Every living creature
that has a nervous system has the ability to feel physical pain and many if not most of those beings
can also experience emotional or psychological pain. Compassion requires us to find ourselves in the other.
One can say that in the pain of others is our pain and in their happiness is ours. Compassion is
not just an act but a thought too. The ability relate to another and give them the empathy and
sympathy that is required. In Buddhist thought, compassion is the goal of meditation so that
one can see past the suffering that is existence feel for all beings. A Bodhisattva is he/she
that has forsaken Nirvana until they can guide all other beings to that state.
Next to compassion is forgiveness because compassion allows us to see the inherent humanity in others and
thereby forgive them. Forgiveness involves understanding the circumstances of the incident or act and
there upon allowing that moment to pass. Forgiveness entails the idea that many times we fall prey to
our emotions and circumstances, not even the greatest amongst us is free from that. To be human is to
be fallible. Forgiveness also allows us to conquer the insecurities and hurt that dwell within us.
Violence is perpetuated when forgiveness is not given nor accepted.
Knowledge is the fifth offering. In Indian thought, knowledge as used in the word jnana (cognate to
the Greek word gnosis) means wisdom and spiritual insight.
Krishna says in the Gita:
The humble sage, by virtue of true knowledge, sees
with equal vision a learned and gentle brahmana, a cow, an elephant, a
dog and a dog-eater
Here spiritual wisdom or jnana, prevents one from discriminating against others based on physical
differences. To one who is steeped in wisdom, they see pass the shell that we all wear and delve
into the core of what connects us all together. Our common existence and connection, in the words of
Martin Heidegger, continuum of Being. We all share an equal desire and right to exist. Krishna asks
us to stop seeing the "other" and see them as part of oneself. The lines of caste, creed, race,
nationality, species and so on disappear.
The next flower is Tapas or austerity. Austerity here means dedication and discipline. It is the active
principle of trying to better oneself through practice. This is a practical matter, as human beings like
every other animal is a creature of habit. So the habit of a person so is that person. If we breed good habits
into ourselves by that I am not referring necessarily moral choices but acts that allow us to grow in our
world views, compassion, understanding, knowledge and so forth. Tapas generally means heat in sanskrit
referring to building up of ones spiritual strength and also physical. Austerities were practiced to
cultivate one's mind and train it to overcome physical and other mental difficulties.
From austerities one develops concentration, the ability to focus or more specifically single pointed
focus. Unwavering unlike a lamp in midst of wind. Concentration lets us dissect ourselves and
gives us a way to discriminate in our actions. It allows us to learn and develop our strengths.
Stilling of the mind through meditation takes us away from the flux that is life and brings us to a
world that allows us to focus on the self.
The last and most important flower that all others depend upon is Satya or the Truth. Truth here is
both empirical and spiritual. There is a Vedic saying "satyam eva jayeta" or Truth alone triumphs.
Truth is the core of our being, it is how we can learn compassion and develop the ability to control
the senses and forgive. Truth is looking first at the world at large from a variety of perspectives
and trying to understanding things as they are not as we wish them to be. At a deeper level it is
looking into ourselves and staring down both our strengths and faults. Accepting those faults as
existent and trying to improve them. Every statement has some level of truth to it, when people
make comments about us, it is important for us to first ascertain in that comment if there is anything
that is true and if so address it and fix it.
The qualities listed in this little stotra or verse are universally good qualities, an ideal to strive
to. Not just for the idea of pleasing a god but even if one does not believe in a god, these qualities
are humanistic and ideal. Virtues as Socrates would say. Just something to keep in mind.
Monday, December 08, 2008
The Journey of Life
We transverse this existence we term life hoping to find a purpose or reason but many times in doing so we pass over the wonder that is the journey. Life doesn't have a path that it lays out for us, life merely is, it is we who bring the journey to it. To some life is mundane, to others it is divine and sacred, others it is a myriad of possibilities and probabilities and to others still it is as we so often put it these days "it is what it is". We pass day by day in a routine that we have acquired through days, months, weeks and years of habits. The sorrows of yesterday slow dissipate into the numbness of today with the hope of happiness of tomorrow.
We live in a world that isn't always fair, more often than not it is unjust and appears to be remorseless and full of suffering. Infants die every day without reason, little children are sold into slavery, women are abused and degraded, men are sent to their deaths for no other reason as someone else's incentive and interest. People kill and are killed over land, food, money and objects of desire. Insentient property is sometimes given more weight and influence than lives of beings. Lives are destroyed and snuffed out without so much a whimper. Many of us feel helpless as the weight of the world and our existence burdens our lives like the baggage that is placed on the back of a donkey, yet we continue trudging along forward, or backward, as one may opt to see it.
Most of you who read this live a comfortable life, including me, or at least a more comfortable life than 99% of the world. Buddha says that "Existence is suffering." The majority of the suffering we see exists in a world that appears to be in a world away or at least outside the confines of our immediate consciousness. It re-asserts itself once in a while when we pick up a newspaper, open up a news website or switch on the television. Once we close that paper, site or turn off the television that world of suffering goes back to being somewhere out there and not here with us, we return the world that comforts us in the dark like a warm blanket in midst of a cold spell.
Sometimes we feel overwhelmed with the pain of those we see and with that pain also accompanies this impotence that how can we do anything to alleve this suffering, if not for others but for ourselves. We sometimes lose sight of the all encompassing idea that the pain of others is our own, in their happiness is ours. Can it be denied that our hearts tug when we see the plights of the millions of children all over the world without food or water, with out families and without a proper chance at a life that they inherently deserve? Can it also be denied that when we see a child smile or laugh in joy and amusement that a part of us hearkens back to the days we were ourselves children, enjoying the afternoons with our friends and evenings with our families?
Life gives each of us an opportunity to begin and continue on a journey of our own making, sometimes that journey is beleaguered with extreme difficulty and obstacles and other times it is as if the path is cleared and one has an easily accessible vehicle to careen through the journey. The former builds our character and shapes our approach to the world in a much more substantial manner. The latter presents us opportunities to do something for the individuals who are struggling with their journey. We can use our vehicles to clear the paths for the others who are finding the journey of life difficult but doing so might divert us away from the open path we are presented with.
Every being on this planet and in existence faces some moments of dense and obscure jungle to navigate but it is in our ability to ground our moments of difficulty in comparison with others that allows us to determine our own journey. Charity, compassion, equanimity and action are the universal religion and spirituality of all beings. Placing our own problems into a larger context and relating to others empowers us, it allows us to gain a sense of control and overcome the impotence we may feel to the nearly insurmountable burdens of life. Buddha also says "A generous heart, kind speech, and a life of service and compassion are the things which renew humanity." Our lives present us with a chance to learn from experience and impart that experience to others. When we act compassionately to our fellow beings and do so with equanimity of mind and desire to do charity we empower and renew ourselves.
When we are wronged it behooves us to try and prevent that wrong from being experienced by another. Even if it is something that appears minuscule to us, such as giving 20 dollars a month to help some child have food or shelter, or even giving food to a homeless person, or talking to someone who needs talking to or even listening, it is something more than we have done before. Human beings are social animals and we need to feel as if we matter and have some sort of connection or impact to those around us even if they happen to be strangers. Take every day as a chance to make it a better day, a day well lived and loved. A day of compassion and hope. In doing so maybe our own meager or even gargantuan sorrows and problems might be ever so slightly lightened. Just look into the eyes of the person, you give hope to and you yourself will find your own hope and potency growing. Strength is found in both actions and words.
There is a wonderful exhortation written by the 4th century sanskrit playwright Kalidasa in his Ritusamhara (The Garland of Seasons), it is aptly titled Usha Vandanam or the Exhortation of the Dawn: "Look to this day!
For it is Life, the very Breath of Life.
In its brief course lie all the varieties
And realities of your existence :
The bliss of growth,
The glory of action,
The splendor of beauty.
For yesterday is already a dream,
And tomorrow is only a vision;
But today well-lived, makes every
Yesterday a dream of happiness
And every tomorrow a vision of hope.
Look well therefore to this day!
Such is the salutation of the dawn."
We live in a world that isn't always fair, more often than not it is unjust and appears to be remorseless and full of suffering. Infants die every day without reason, little children are sold into slavery, women are abused and degraded, men are sent to their deaths for no other reason as someone else's incentive and interest. People kill and are killed over land, food, money and objects of desire. Insentient property is sometimes given more weight and influence than lives of beings. Lives are destroyed and snuffed out without so much a whimper. Many of us feel helpless as the weight of the world and our existence burdens our lives like the baggage that is placed on the back of a donkey, yet we continue trudging along forward, or backward, as one may opt to see it.
Most of you who read this live a comfortable life, including me, or at least a more comfortable life than 99% of the world. Buddha says that "Existence is suffering." The majority of the suffering we see exists in a world that appears to be in a world away or at least outside the confines of our immediate consciousness. It re-asserts itself once in a while when we pick up a newspaper, open up a news website or switch on the television. Once we close that paper, site or turn off the television that world of suffering goes back to being somewhere out there and not here with us, we return the world that comforts us in the dark like a warm blanket in midst of a cold spell.
Sometimes we feel overwhelmed with the pain of those we see and with that pain also accompanies this impotence that how can we do anything to alleve this suffering, if not for others but for ourselves. We sometimes lose sight of the all encompassing idea that the pain of others is our own, in their happiness is ours. Can it be denied that our hearts tug when we see the plights of the millions of children all over the world without food or water, with out families and without a proper chance at a life that they inherently deserve? Can it also be denied that when we see a child smile or laugh in joy and amusement that a part of us hearkens back to the days we were ourselves children, enjoying the afternoons with our friends and evenings with our families?
Life gives each of us an opportunity to begin and continue on a journey of our own making, sometimes that journey is beleaguered with extreme difficulty and obstacles and other times it is as if the path is cleared and one has an easily accessible vehicle to careen through the journey. The former builds our character and shapes our approach to the world in a much more substantial manner. The latter presents us opportunities to do something for the individuals who are struggling with their journey. We can use our vehicles to clear the paths for the others who are finding the journey of life difficult but doing so might divert us away from the open path we are presented with.
Every being on this planet and in existence faces some moments of dense and obscure jungle to navigate but it is in our ability to ground our moments of difficulty in comparison with others that allows us to determine our own journey. Charity, compassion, equanimity and action are the universal religion and spirituality of all beings. Placing our own problems into a larger context and relating to others empowers us, it allows us to gain a sense of control and overcome the impotence we may feel to the nearly insurmountable burdens of life. Buddha also says "A generous heart, kind speech, and a life of service and compassion are the things which renew humanity." Our lives present us with a chance to learn from experience and impart that experience to others. When we act compassionately to our fellow beings and do so with equanimity of mind and desire to do charity we empower and renew ourselves.
When we are wronged it behooves us to try and prevent that wrong from being experienced by another. Even if it is something that appears minuscule to us, such as giving 20 dollars a month to help some child have food or shelter, or even giving food to a homeless person, or talking to someone who needs talking to or even listening, it is something more than we have done before. Human beings are social animals and we need to feel as if we matter and have some sort of connection or impact to those around us even if they happen to be strangers. Take every day as a chance to make it a better day, a day well lived and loved. A day of compassion and hope. In doing so maybe our own meager or even gargantuan sorrows and problems might be ever so slightly lightened. Just look into the eyes of the person, you give hope to and you yourself will find your own hope and potency growing. Strength is found in both actions and words.
There is a wonderful exhortation written by the 4th century sanskrit playwright Kalidasa in his Ritusamhara (The Garland of Seasons), it is aptly titled Usha Vandanam or the Exhortation of the Dawn: "Look to this day!
For it is Life, the very Breath of Life.
In its brief course lie all the varieties
And realities of your existence :
The bliss of growth,
The glory of action,
The splendor of beauty.
For yesterday is already a dream,
And tomorrow is only a vision;
But today well-lived, makes every
Yesterday a dream of happiness
And every tomorrow a vision of hope.
Look well therefore to this day!
Such is the salutation of the dawn."
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Sarah Palin: The Regressive Choice
I have tried very hard these past few months to avoid getting involved or keeping tabs on the political milieu of this nation during this election season but the nomination of Sarah Palin galvanised me into caring again. John McCain and the Republican party had numerous candidates to select from, all of whom were qualified in some level to at least share the podium with him as a potential running mate. Sarah Palin was not nor is not one of them. Palin as a candidate does not bring anything to the table aside from being a small town mayor, 1/2 term as governor for a state that is enormous land mass size but minuscule in human presence size and she is a hockey mother. In fact Orange County, California, my home county has more people to be more specific it has nearly 5 times as many people in that county than in all of Alaska. As of 2006 Alaska had approximately 670,053 inhabitants while Orange County had 3,002,048 inhabitants.
Furthermore, she believes in creationism and that the Coming of the Rapture is nearly imminent. She also believes that women do not have the right to an abortion even in cases of rape, in fact while she was Mayor of Wasilia, she made rape victims pay for their own rape kits. What happened to the compassion that Jesus preaches, is that just for rhetoric? If Jesus Christ is soon coming down for Final Judgement doesn't it matter that she as a leader showed no compassion for her actual fellow living, breathing and conscious human being? These women who were raped were victims and they didn't need to be treated as pariahs, that sort of thinking existed in the middle ages and as recent as a few decades ago but doesn't belong in the 21st century. Palin's rational is this, yes rape is wrong but so is abortion because abortion is murder so lets not commit two wrongs to make it right.
Fundamentally, this comes from her entirely uneducated understanding of life and conception with its various stages of development. The idea of person hood has only been an issue of law in the past 150 years or so, it was in the 19th century that both the Catholic Church and the Protestant Church conferred full person hood upon conception. The ancient Greeks viewed person hood becoming reality 40 days after conception for males and 90 for females. While the early Catholic Church varied in its position about when the soul actually enters the fetus, the modern church holds it occurs upon conception but various early Churches held different views, St. Augustine believed that the soul can only be unified with the body when the body is formed, meaning the lump of cells in the early stages isn't a person yet. The 13th Century church held that the soul is in the body only upon the quickening or the movement of the fetus in the womb, therefore abortion before that was not a sin nor murder. For the next few hundred years until the modern age, the stage at which person hood was attached varied until 19th century when the modern Church held the view conception is the stage of person hood.
Modern Science doesn't fully deal with when "person hood" attaches but we do have an objective standard to judge by now, that is when does consciousness and ability to feel pain set in. By week 9 the fetus has develop the medulla, pons and mid brain which means at this stage the fetus will spontaneously kick or move then within a week of that will take its first breath in the womb. It is also at this stage that the limbs are finally forming. From that time on, the brain grows at a phenomenal rate and the fetus six weeks prior to birth has shown signs of actual cognition through auditory and other means of outside the womb. It is almost a medical/biological impossibility for a fetus to feel pain prior to 29 or 30 weeks. Palin and those like her don't base their belief on anything concrete or objective but just on religious or moral authority.
Now, I can keep going on but I'm going end by talking about her lack of qualifications to be a national leader. First and foremost, Palin is not an educated person, she attended 5 different colleges in 6 years. That is the extent of her education. She doesn't understand how the economy works nor any background in foreign policy or international relations nor does she understand science. She runs on two main things 1. her gender and 2. emotional/moral support that people look for. She uses her gender to her advantage, she is the woman reformer who worked tirelessly to break into the old boy's club. She is anything but the woman reformer, she wishes to take women back to being baby receptacles and the silent bearers of tradition. She uses her "reform" platform to appeal to those out there who are seeking emotional and moral solidarity, instead of presenting logical and reasonable ideas she preys on the emotions and fears of people, a very typical GOP and Bush administration tactic. She stands for the idea that we don't need to expect much out of our leaders only that they are "average" and can relate to us, not that they need actual ideas, inspiration, education and qualifications to run this land of ours. Let me leave you with this, if you were going into surgery you'd want a qualified and knowledgeable surgeon operating on you not the hot dog vendor, or the lawyer or the sales person at the Gap or especially this Governor of Alaska. How could you possibly want her to make decisions that have repercussions over generations and control the lives of millions of people and affect billions. If she is elected...maybe the rapture is coming, cause only God could save us from our own stupidity at that point.
Furthermore, she believes in creationism and that the Coming of the Rapture is nearly imminent. She also believes that women do not have the right to an abortion even in cases of rape, in fact while she was Mayor of Wasilia, she made rape victims pay for their own rape kits. What happened to the compassion that Jesus preaches, is that just for rhetoric? If Jesus Christ is soon coming down for Final Judgement doesn't it matter that she as a leader showed no compassion for her actual fellow living, breathing and conscious human being? These women who were raped were victims and they didn't need to be treated as pariahs, that sort of thinking existed in the middle ages and as recent as a few decades ago but doesn't belong in the 21st century. Palin's rational is this, yes rape is wrong but so is abortion because abortion is murder so lets not commit two wrongs to make it right.
Fundamentally, this comes from her entirely uneducated understanding of life and conception with its various stages of development. The idea of person hood has only been an issue of law in the past 150 years or so, it was in the 19th century that both the Catholic Church and the Protestant Church conferred full person hood upon conception. The ancient Greeks viewed person hood becoming reality 40 days after conception for males and 90 for females. While the early Catholic Church varied in its position about when the soul actually enters the fetus, the modern church holds it occurs upon conception but various early Churches held different views, St. Augustine believed that the soul can only be unified with the body when the body is formed, meaning the lump of cells in the early stages isn't a person yet. The 13th Century church held that the soul is in the body only upon the quickening or the movement of the fetus in the womb, therefore abortion before that was not a sin nor murder. For the next few hundred years until the modern age, the stage at which person hood was attached varied until 19th century when the modern Church held the view conception is the stage of person hood.
Modern Science doesn't fully deal with when "person hood" attaches but we do have an objective standard to judge by now, that is when does consciousness and ability to feel pain set in. By week 9 the fetus has develop the medulla, pons and mid brain which means at this stage the fetus will spontaneously kick or move then within a week of that will take its first breath in the womb. It is also at this stage that the limbs are finally forming. From that time on, the brain grows at a phenomenal rate and the fetus six weeks prior to birth has shown signs of actual cognition through auditory and other means of outside the womb. It is almost a medical/biological impossibility for a fetus to feel pain prior to 29 or 30 weeks. Palin and those like her don't base their belief on anything concrete or objective but just on religious or moral authority.
Now, I can keep going on but I'm going end by talking about her lack of qualifications to be a national leader. First and foremost, Palin is not an educated person, she attended 5 different colleges in 6 years. That is the extent of her education. She doesn't understand how the economy works nor any background in foreign policy or international relations nor does she understand science. She runs on two main things 1. her gender and 2. emotional/moral support that people look for. She uses her gender to her advantage, she is the woman reformer who worked tirelessly to break into the old boy's club. She is anything but the woman reformer, she wishes to take women back to being baby receptacles and the silent bearers of tradition. She uses her "reform" platform to appeal to those out there who are seeking emotional and moral solidarity, instead of presenting logical and reasonable ideas she preys on the emotions and fears of people, a very typical GOP and Bush administration tactic. She stands for the idea that we don't need to expect much out of our leaders only that they are "average" and can relate to us, not that they need actual ideas, inspiration, education and qualifications to run this land of ours. Let me leave you with this, if you were going into surgery you'd want a qualified and knowledgeable surgeon operating on you not the hot dog vendor, or the lawyer or the sales person at the Gap or especially this Governor of Alaska. How could you possibly want her to make decisions that have repercussions over generations and control the lives of millions of people and affect billions. If she is elected...maybe the rapture is coming, cause only God could save us from our own stupidity at that point.
Monday, July 28, 2008
I, Ego and Pride
I haven't really blogged in a few months so I apologize for that. I was going to blog on the Dark Knight today but decided I will save that for a week or so after more people have seen the movie, because I do have a lot to say about that movie. The pertinent topic I wish to engage in today is the idea of Ego or Pride, in sanskrit the word is Ahamkara (literally means the I maker). Ahamkara is used in three primary ways in sanskrit philosophical writings. First, it is used in the most fundamental way, the notion of first person perspective or fundamental consciousness, which is linked to (either qualitatively or identically) with Atman or soul. Second use is in the idea of agency, as in the idea that "I am the agent of my actions". The third and final use of the word Ahamkara is for the idea of pride and even arrogance. For the purposes of this blog I want to focus on the second and third uses of the word because the use of Ahamkara in the primary sense is an issue of epistemological and ontological significance not so much practical or psychological.
In a previous blog I talked about anger and how that is the root of a lot of problems but that's not entirely true. There are many roots to problems and one of the biggest ones is the pride. There are numerous sayings in all cultures about the negative consequences of pride. But there are few positives and I'll start with them first. According to Aristotle, pride is the crown of all virtues. He defines right or true pride as the idea of claiming something that is in accordance of your merits. Ayn Rand also lists pride as a virtue but specifically calls it the virtue of selfishness. Its the idea of placing yourself and your goals as paramount in your life and never sacrificing your own self or ideas for others. Now all the major religions of the world see Pride as a negative trait. As the old saying goes, Pride cometh before the fall (Proverbs 16:18). It is one of the seven deadly sins in Christianity, one of the six enemies in Hinduism (it is called mada in that list, which comes closer to the idea of arrogance) and in Buddhism it is an illogical idea as no one person can be better or worse than anyone else so Pride itself is irrational.
What is the difference between self-esteem and Pride? Self-esteem is upholding ones own self worth in that "I matter and am of significance at the same level as everyone/anyone else." Now I'd be stupid if I didn't admit the existence of different types of pride, there is the base idea of pride which is a bit stronger than the idea of self-esteem. Statements like "I'm proud of my effort" or "I'm proud that you tried" or "I'm proud that you did the right thing" are of that nature. They reaffirm the potentiality that self-esteem professes. Self-esteem is the potential that one sees in themselves and pride is the actualization or attempt to actualize that potential. At this point, it'd be prudent for me to differentiate Pride as I used it immediately above and the stronger notion of Pride. The stronger notion of Pride can also be called hubris and arrogance. From here on in, I'll refer to it as Hubris.
Hubris is the notion that because of one's education, wealth, race, religion or other discrimination criteria, that one is better or of more self worth than another. We have all at some point if not consistently dealt with this. How many of us have ever been in a situation where someone told us something and we thought to ourselves "who the hell is this person to give me advice" or something of that nature. Now that's hubris. Instead of listening to what the person says we cut them off in our minds as not someone worthy or in a situation of equal gravitas as us to give us advice. Or the idea "what does X person know, he is just a kid" or "she just has a high school degree". Now someone might make the argument you won't give the same weight to the advice of Joe Schmoe with that of a Doctor when it comes to medical issues. This argument would miss the point, as Hubris is an issue of how one views oneself in relation to others, not how others should be view with regard to specific questions in particular cases and professions. That being said, I'd take the advice of a doctor in regards to medical problem because of their expertise in that particular subject (given it is highly specialized) not because I view them as equal or not equal with me.
This the root of many of our problems. Hubris is the elevation of ourselves above others in the realm of inherent worth of human experience and existence. We take offense when we are reprimanded because it knocks us off our sense of elated self worth. When we are called out for our flaws, we instead of listening to the criticism allow our hubris to feed into our base emotion, anger. It is why we think to ourselves "how does this person have all this and I don't" or "I worked hard for what I got and I deserve it but clearly the people who don't have what I have aren't at my level" Hubris makes us buy these fancy cars and fake bodies, for appearances, so that we appear better than everyone else. This goes into my next point about Ahamkara.
Hubris has its foundation in the notion of the self as an agent. The notion that we actually do things or have control over anything more than our actions. As if our action is the direct cause of something happening. In fact, nothing can be further from the truth. Our actions are only one of the infinite number of causes that contribute to the occurrence or non-occurrence of things. Any causal relationship can be broken into millions of various other factors. I think if work hard and win a trial then its due to my effort. But if one were to really consider it, there are numerous if not unlimited factors that go into the actualization of that act. My ability to comprehend what actually happened, my ability to present that information coherently, the witnesses ability to actually witness the events, their ability to relate that information, the credibility and honesty of the witness, the defense's ability or inability to argue their case, the judge's ability to listen and understand what I want him/her to understand, their own world views being similar to the views i want them to hold and so on and so forth. Right there are so many factors that are beyond my control, in essence, the win isn't something I was responsible for it is merely something I contributed to, co-relational at best.
Krishna says in the Gita:
Karmany eva adhikaras te Ma Phaleshu Kadachana
Ma Karma Phala Hetur Bhur Ma Te Sango astva Akarmani
(chapter 2 verse 47)
In doing your karma is your only right, not in the fruits of that action.
Do not be attached by the fruits of the work, nor should you be attached to inaction.
Why should we only be attached to our actions alone and not the fruit? As shown above it's because the fruits are not in our control, we don't really have any real sense of agency to "cause" things to happen. All we can do is act accordingly to what we should do and need to do. Meaning, that we should act because it is what is necessary and right not because we will always gain our goals. Make money so that we can live not making the acquisition of wealth the goal, work to live but the point which i haven't addressed here but Krishna says in the Gita, Live to know and eventually know to love all beings and things as oneself, in essence removing that Ahamkara and seeing oneself as not a separate agent but part of all existence, an fundamental and defining aspect or part of the grandeur that is existence and Being.
In a previous blog I talked about anger and how that is the root of a lot of problems but that's not entirely true. There are many roots to problems and one of the biggest ones is the pride. There are numerous sayings in all cultures about the negative consequences of pride. But there are few positives and I'll start with them first. According to Aristotle, pride is the crown of all virtues. He defines right or true pride as the idea of claiming something that is in accordance of your merits. Ayn Rand also lists pride as a virtue but specifically calls it the virtue of selfishness. Its the idea of placing yourself and your goals as paramount in your life and never sacrificing your own self or ideas for others. Now all the major religions of the world see Pride as a negative trait. As the old saying goes, Pride cometh before the fall (Proverbs 16:18). It is one of the seven deadly sins in Christianity, one of the six enemies in Hinduism (it is called mada in that list, which comes closer to the idea of arrogance) and in Buddhism it is an illogical idea as no one person can be better or worse than anyone else so Pride itself is irrational.
What is the difference between self-esteem and Pride? Self-esteem is upholding ones own self worth in that "I matter and am of significance at the same level as everyone/anyone else." Now I'd be stupid if I didn't admit the existence of different types of pride, there is the base idea of pride which is a bit stronger than the idea of self-esteem. Statements like "I'm proud of my effort" or "I'm proud that you tried" or "I'm proud that you did the right thing" are of that nature. They reaffirm the potentiality that self-esteem professes. Self-esteem is the potential that one sees in themselves and pride is the actualization or attempt to actualize that potential. At this point, it'd be prudent for me to differentiate Pride as I used it immediately above and the stronger notion of Pride. The stronger notion of Pride can also be called hubris and arrogance. From here on in, I'll refer to it as Hubris.
Hubris is the notion that because of one's education, wealth, race, religion or other discrimination criteria, that one is better or of more self worth than another. We have all at some point if not consistently dealt with this. How many of us have ever been in a situation where someone told us something and we thought to ourselves "who the hell is this person to give me advice" or something of that nature. Now that's hubris. Instead of listening to what the person says we cut them off in our minds as not someone worthy or in a situation of equal gravitas as us to give us advice. Or the idea "what does X person know, he is just a kid" or "she just has a high school degree". Now someone might make the argument you won't give the same weight to the advice of Joe Schmoe with that of a Doctor when it comes to medical issues. This argument would miss the point, as Hubris is an issue of how one views oneself in relation to others, not how others should be view with regard to specific questions in particular cases and professions. That being said, I'd take the advice of a doctor in regards to medical problem because of their expertise in that particular subject (given it is highly specialized) not because I view them as equal or not equal with me.
This the root of many of our problems. Hubris is the elevation of ourselves above others in the realm of inherent worth of human experience and existence. We take offense when we are reprimanded because it knocks us off our sense of elated self worth. When we are called out for our flaws, we instead of listening to the criticism allow our hubris to feed into our base emotion, anger. It is why we think to ourselves "how does this person have all this and I don't" or "I worked hard for what I got and I deserve it but clearly the people who don't have what I have aren't at my level" Hubris makes us buy these fancy cars and fake bodies, for appearances, so that we appear better than everyone else. This goes into my next point about Ahamkara.
Hubris has its foundation in the notion of the self as an agent. The notion that we actually do things or have control over anything more than our actions. As if our action is the direct cause of something happening. In fact, nothing can be further from the truth. Our actions are only one of the infinite number of causes that contribute to the occurrence or non-occurrence of things. Any causal relationship can be broken into millions of various other factors. I think if work hard and win a trial then its due to my effort. But if one were to really consider it, there are numerous if not unlimited factors that go into the actualization of that act. My ability to comprehend what actually happened, my ability to present that information coherently, the witnesses ability to actually witness the events, their ability to relate that information, the credibility and honesty of the witness, the defense's ability or inability to argue their case, the judge's ability to listen and understand what I want him/her to understand, their own world views being similar to the views i want them to hold and so on and so forth. Right there are so many factors that are beyond my control, in essence, the win isn't something I was responsible for it is merely something I contributed to, co-relational at best.
Krishna says in the Gita:
Karmany eva adhikaras te Ma Phaleshu Kadachana
Ma Karma Phala Hetur Bhur Ma Te Sango astva Akarmani
(chapter 2 verse 47)
In doing your karma is your only right, not in the fruits of that action.
Do not be attached by the fruits of the work, nor should you be attached to inaction.
Why should we only be attached to our actions alone and not the fruit? As shown above it's because the fruits are not in our control, we don't really have any real sense of agency to "cause" things to happen. All we can do is act accordingly to what we should do and need to do. Meaning, that we should act because it is what is necessary and right not because we will always gain our goals. Make money so that we can live not making the acquisition of wealth the goal, work to live but the point which i haven't addressed here but Krishna says in the Gita, Live to know and eventually know to love all beings and things as oneself, in essence removing that Ahamkara and seeing oneself as not a separate agent but part of all existence, an fundamental and defining aspect or part of the grandeur that is existence and Being.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Wisdom and Regret
Now is the time were we notice the gradual but clear change in seasons, as the winter snow melts into lush green grass, we began to reflect on the wonder of life and enjoy the splendor of spring, the fresh flowers, bright warm sun, the cool breezes and so on. It then become inevitable that we also reflect on our lives and the decisions we have made and are currently considering. In essence, we come to a crossroads of our lives, a time where we either consciously or subconsciously, determine who we want to be and who we are. Sometimes they are the same but hopefully they are not because the moment you determine that you don't need to change you have either deluded yourself or reached a state of enlightenment. If its the latter then you're set but if its the former and trust me, 99.999999% of the time it is the former, you will end up worse than you are.
Thinking of the past necessarily forces us into thinking of what we've done and the choices we've made. As such, we are confronted with the idea of regret. If we had the choice to re-make our past choices, would we make the same choice or knowing what we know now make another choice? There are two trains of thought, one train of thought says that the choice I made has essentially made me the person I am today and to not make that choice would fundamentally alter who I am. The second train of thought says that the knowledge we have now, if given the chance, should instruct us to make another decision the better or even the right decision. It is the idea that if confronted with the exact same situation again, would you learn from that prior decision and make another choice or would we ignore that situation and fall into the same trap again?
Although I do think there is some merit in the idea that we are now what we are because of what we have done but that idea implies that we couldn't be where we are now if we took other choices. Wisdom, they say comes with age and experience, is the one thing that we must gather from any experience or choice we make. That wisdom in most cases dictates that we should have done things differently, to ignore that wisdom would in essence make that experience or choice pointless. Wisdom also requires that we ascertain whether it was the choice itself that was bad or the merely the outcome. If it was the outcome that was bad then maybe that choice should be made again but if you determine that the choice itself was bad then that choice should be reconsidered and if need be dismissed. Living a life without regrets means taking the choice on the right choice and then learning from that choice. I, myself, have a few regrets in life meaning that if given the chance and given what I know now, I would make a different choice. A majority of the choices I would do the same way because I think it was the outcome that was bad not the choice itself. One of the main goals in life is to acquire wisdom, apply it to live a good and happy life and pass it on. It is with that in mind we need to approach making decisions and when confronted with similar if not the exact situations from our past that we need to apply that wisdom and act.
Thinking of the past necessarily forces us into thinking of what we've done and the choices we've made. As such, we are confronted with the idea of regret. If we had the choice to re-make our past choices, would we make the same choice or knowing what we know now make another choice? There are two trains of thought, one train of thought says that the choice I made has essentially made me the person I am today and to not make that choice would fundamentally alter who I am. The second train of thought says that the knowledge we have now, if given the chance, should instruct us to make another decision the better or even the right decision. It is the idea that if confronted with the exact same situation again, would you learn from that prior decision and make another choice or would we ignore that situation and fall into the same trap again?
Although I do think there is some merit in the idea that we are now what we are because of what we have done but that idea implies that we couldn't be where we are now if we took other choices. Wisdom, they say comes with age and experience, is the one thing that we must gather from any experience or choice we make. That wisdom in most cases dictates that we should have done things differently, to ignore that wisdom would in essence make that experience or choice pointless. Wisdom also requires that we ascertain whether it was the choice itself that was bad or the merely the outcome. If it was the outcome that was bad then maybe that choice should be made again but if you determine that the choice itself was bad then that choice should be reconsidered and if need be dismissed. Living a life without regrets means taking the choice on the right choice and then learning from that choice. I, myself, have a few regrets in life meaning that if given the chance and given what I know now, I would make a different choice. A majority of the choices I would do the same way because I think it was the outcome that was bad not the choice itself. One of the main goals in life is to acquire wisdom, apply it to live a good and happy life and pass it on. It is with that in mind we need to approach making decisions and when confronted with similar if not the exact situations from our past that we need to apply that wisdom and act.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Peace of Mind and Emotions
I recently found one of my childhood and still favorite albums of all time, The Bhagavad Gita as song by K.J. Yesudas. As I kid, I used to think this recording was the actually recording of the Gita and that Yesudas's voice was the voice of Krishna. Ya, I'm an idiot but whatever. You can listen to it here: Yesudas Bhagavad Gita Chapter 2. I was just listening to it again and decided to reflect on two of the passages which I think are very pertinent and penetrating:
nāsti buddhir ayuktasya
na cāyuktasya bhāvanā
na cābhāvayataḥ śāntir
aśāntasya kutaḥ sukham
indriyāṇāḿ hi caratāḿ
yan mano 'nuvidhīyate
tad asya harati prajñāḿ
vāyur nāvam ivāmbhasi
Gita, Chapter 2, verse 66-67
the meaning is this:
For one without a controlled mind there can be no discerning intelligence
Nor also can they have meditation
Without the ability to meditate (on oneself) there is no peace
Without peace where can there be happiness?
The mind which follows the wandering senses
carries away one's discrimination
like the wind which carries
away the boat on the waters
A person whose mind is erratic, clouded and pulled in different directions without being reigned in or controlled will not be able to gain the discerning intelligence and insight that is needed. If they can't gain discerning intelligence then how can they reflect or meditate to get peace and peace is the foundation for happiness. In our lives we find that many times our mind is torn and clouded by numerous experiences, thoughts and interactions. All these things weigh us down and keep us from seeing the world as clearly as possible but even more they keep us from seeing ourselves. Our decisions in the world are based on how we view ourselves, do we have the peace of mind to know who or what we are. When we are confused to our own identity and our own inherent being we find that our actions and thoughts reflect that. Our emotions will rage in various directions as if beyond our control much like a boat is carried away in whatever direction the wind blows.
Krishna's advice is one of keen psychological and mental impact, the individual who tries to control their mind and their senses will be able to make decisions that are much more clear, they will be able to develop wisdom which leads to peace which provides happiness. The analogy of the boat is highly descriptive because a boat which is manned and controlled can weather the storm and use the wind to navigate the waters but one which is without proper equipment, crew and leadership will be lost at sea. Another key underlying point to all this that, many times when we do things we do them because we've lost control and the discerning intelligence to make the right or good choice. We all get caught up in the sway of our minds and emotions. When it happens to me, I always think of these verses and take a step back and analyze my current situation and thought processes. I find by doing that and reflecting on it all, I develop a certain peace about my mindset and can then make a more conducive and informed decision. Krishna isn't saying that we must suppress our emotions but control them, there is a vital difference. To suppress something requires that we ignore them and hold them down, which creates a pressure cooker situation, at some point all those emotions will explode out. Controlling something is absolutely fruitful because it allows to harness and guide those emotions to better and more stable decisions. A dam that only holds back the water will inevitably break but a dam that directs the waters and controls its flow will not break. Learning to control our emotions and thoughts will lead to peace of mind and that will lead to happiness.
nāsti buddhir ayuktasya
na cāyuktasya bhāvanā
na cābhāvayataḥ śāntir
aśāntasya kutaḥ sukham
indriyāṇāḿ hi caratāḿ
yan mano 'nuvidhīyate
tad asya harati prajñāḿ
vāyur nāvam ivāmbhasi
Gita, Chapter 2, verse 66-67
the meaning is this:
For one without a controlled mind there can be no discerning intelligence
Nor also can they have meditation
Without the ability to meditate (on oneself) there is no peace
Without peace where can there be happiness?
The mind which follows the wandering senses
carries away one's discrimination
like the wind which carries
away the boat on the waters
A person whose mind is erratic, clouded and pulled in different directions without being reigned in or controlled will not be able to gain the discerning intelligence and insight that is needed. If they can't gain discerning intelligence then how can they reflect or meditate to get peace and peace is the foundation for happiness. In our lives we find that many times our mind is torn and clouded by numerous experiences, thoughts and interactions. All these things weigh us down and keep us from seeing the world as clearly as possible but even more they keep us from seeing ourselves. Our decisions in the world are based on how we view ourselves, do we have the peace of mind to know who or what we are. When we are confused to our own identity and our own inherent being we find that our actions and thoughts reflect that. Our emotions will rage in various directions as if beyond our control much like a boat is carried away in whatever direction the wind blows.
Krishna's advice is one of keen psychological and mental impact, the individual who tries to control their mind and their senses will be able to make decisions that are much more clear, they will be able to develop wisdom which leads to peace which provides happiness. The analogy of the boat is highly descriptive because a boat which is manned and controlled can weather the storm and use the wind to navigate the waters but one which is without proper equipment, crew and leadership will be lost at sea. Another key underlying point to all this that, many times when we do things we do them because we've lost control and the discerning intelligence to make the right or good choice. We all get caught up in the sway of our minds and emotions. When it happens to me, I always think of these verses and take a step back and analyze my current situation and thought processes. I find by doing that and reflecting on it all, I develop a certain peace about my mindset and can then make a more conducive and informed decision. Krishna isn't saying that we must suppress our emotions but control them, there is a vital difference. To suppress something requires that we ignore them and hold them down, which creates a pressure cooker situation, at some point all those emotions will explode out. Controlling something is absolutely fruitful because it allows to harness and guide those emotions to better and more stable decisions. A dam that only holds back the water will inevitably break but a dam that directs the waters and controls its flow will not break. Learning to control our emotions and thoughts will lead to peace of mind and that will lead to happiness.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Certainty
I've been struggling with the issue of certainty for the past few years. How can I rationally believe in anything if there is no real certainty? How can I trust my own thoughts, feelings or ideas? How can I believe in a God and so on. We live in a very uncertain world, nothing is an absolute certainty. Quantum physics teaches us that all existence waivers on the verge of probability at the sub-atomic level, which would lead to the larger truth that all things are entirely based on probability. Let me correct myself, only change and death are a certainty. The nature of existence is change, we all experience it. In the world we live in, we see everything change all the time. Friends, family, locations, ideas, relationships, principles, emotions and all change, they fluctuate. Physically speaking, we are different every second, cells die and cells are born. At no two points are we the exactly the same. Our emotional and mental states are the also different at every second.
Absolute certainty doesn't exist for human beings because absolute knowledge is unattainable. We can on the other hand have relative certainty within any given framework. I can be relatively certain of my own existence because to doubt it would be to reassert it, it is Renee Descartes argument of I think therefore I am. Our minds can only comprehend so much and we fundamentally cannot know all various viewpoints of any truth. We maybe able to observe any event from an "objective" view point but we can't fully know the various subjective viewpoints of any of the parties involved. There is a saying that there are two sides to every story but in fact there are many sides if not infinite sides to any story. Right and wrong isn't necessarily absolutely black and white, but its a dependent on the situation, time and place, in other words its also uncertain until one in such a situation. Certainty doesn't exist in the world, we have to create it and know it from whatever information or knowledge is available at hand. There are only a few things in this world I'm certain about and we all need to search within ourselves and find that certain thing or things and use that as your guiding light.
Absolute certainty doesn't exist for human beings because absolute knowledge is unattainable. We can on the other hand have relative certainty within any given framework. I can be relatively certain of my own existence because to doubt it would be to reassert it, it is Renee Descartes argument of I think therefore I am. Our minds can only comprehend so much and we fundamentally cannot know all various viewpoints of any truth. We maybe able to observe any event from an "objective" view point but we can't fully know the various subjective viewpoints of any of the parties involved. There is a saying that there are two sides to every story but in fact there are many sides if not infinite sides to any story. Right and wrong isn't necessarily absolutely black and white, but its a dependent on the situation, time and place, in other words its also uncertain until one in such a situation. Certainty doesn't exist in the world, we have to create it and know it from whatever information or knowledge is available at hand. There are only a few things in this world I'm certain about and we all need to search within ourselves and find that certain thing or things and use that as your guiding light.
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