Some Learnings from "The BhagvadGita" by Dr S. Radhakrishnan

This book by Dr S Radhakrishnan is an epic by itself. The way it has been explained is phenomenal. I shall be taking up small parts of  this book and explaining it in my words, because I believe that when you write something down in your own words, it concretizes your thoughts and becomes a belief system. All our behaviours and actions are governed by our thoughts which originate from there. The core of our thoughts is therefore our belief system and our expressions are a feedback which either weaken or reinforce it.

Introductory Essay 

BhagwadGita is not only popular in India but also in the entire world, and right from time immemorial. In earlier times, China and Japan were greatly influenced and then this also spread to the West. Very nicely put across, this book is not a philosophical treatise but a religiuous classic which can be read and understood by anyone and everyone. It is a "poem" of life with profound insights that are valid for all times and all people in this world.  He has quoted a German scholar of sanskrit, J W Hauer who gave the central message of Gita as : 'We are not called to solve the meaning of life, but to find out the Deed demanded of us and to work and so, by action, to master the riddle of life.' The German scholar calls this the classical presentation of one of the most significant phases of Indo-Germanic religion. The Gita's teachings  encompass the entire human spirit, ranging from the "crude fetishism of the savage" to the "creative affirmations of the saint".  So BhagwadGita is not about a theory of all good and saintly, but more about real life and to understand all that happens in our life as it happens. Integration of the external world to the internal mind and understanding the oneness of everything in the Universe is explained by use of the words "transcendent" and the "empirical" and Gita integrates these two aspects of life. It is also called the 'science' of reality, and the 'art' of union with reality, thereby becoming a scientific subject as well as an artistic subject to entice each and every individual irrespective of their preferences. In layman's words, "outer desire" and "inner quality" are to be seen as a whole and not fragmented, and this is the essence of life.

Gita is also called an "Upanishad" written during times when the different currents of thought  like "the Vedic cult of sacrifice", "the Upanishad teachings of the transcendent Brahman" , the "Bhagvata Theism" , "Samkhya Dualism" and "yoga meditation" were refined and reconciled by an integration process of synthesis into this wonderful poetic book "BhagwadGita", which is free and large, subtle and profound. The beauty of this book is that it uses the fratricidal struggle of those times( The Mahabharata) to develop a spiritual message based on ancient wisdom of the Upanishads.

The Chief Commentators of BhagvadGita

The earliest was ‘Upanishads’ followed by the ‘BhagvadGita’ and then the ‘Brahma Sutra’ and these three together form the triple cannon or “Prasthana Traya”. The date of BhagvadGita may be assigned to 5th century BCE, though it’s text would have been altered many times. Author of Gita is actually not known, however it is attributed to Vyasa, the compiler of Mahabharata. The 18 chapters of Gita form chapters 23 to 40 of “Bhismaparvan” of MahaBharata. Many philosophers have argued and debated over the “philosophy” of Gita and interpreted it in their own way, especially many foreigners, like Hopkins, Holtzmann, Keith, Barnett, Rudolf Otto, and Jacobi, who are all mentioned in this book. Their different opinions on Gita seem to arise from the unique way in which the philosophical and religious thoughts are diffused in Gita along many devious courses. The Indian tradition however has always felt that all these apparently different and diverse elements are fused together in the minds of the author, and a brilliant synthesis of these actually fosters the true life of spirit. 

In India, there have been many teachers of Vedanta who have written commentaries on Gita and have interpreted it in their own way to teach their philosophy/ religious methodology/tradition also called “sampradaya”. This happened after the decline of Buddhism in India as different sects arose. I have tabulated the details in chronological order for ease of understanding below:-

S No.	Commentator	Sect	Period	Context/ Philosophy
1.	Samkara		A.D.788-820	Reality or “Brahman” is one. World of manifestation and multiplicity is unreal and only those in ignorance think it to be real. We are caught in bondage and all work binds us firmly to this cosmic process ( samsara) , the endless chain of cause and effect. Efforts cannot redeem us, only wisdom that universal reality and individual self are identical can redeem us as this wisdom dissolves the ego, and wandering ceases and we achieve perfect joy and blessedness.
2.	Anandagiri		13th century	Devotees of Samkara and developed the same views.
3.	Sridhara		A.D. 1400
4.	Madhusudana		16th century
5.	Ramanuja		11th century	He refutes the doctrine of Unreality of the world, and the path of renunciation of action. “Brahman” is separate and the highest reality and consciously created the world, which is genuine and real. “God” and “world” are like “soul” and “body”. Thus, world is dependent on God as body is absolutely dependent on soul. Main emphasis of Ramanuja is on “devotion”, even though the three paths of “knowledge”, “action” and “devotion” are equally mentioned in Gita. “Divine election” by devotion is what is emphasized by him.
6.	Madhava	Dvaita( Dualism)	A.D. 1199-1276	He wrote “Gitabhasya” and “Gitatatparya”. Soul and God are different and everything is controlled by God. Devotion is again the method emphasized here.
7.	Nimbarka	Dvaita Dvaita ( Dual-non-dual)	A.D. 1162	Soul and God are different, yet the existence of the soul and the world and their activity depends on the will of God. Again devotion is the main theme here.
8.	Vallabha	Suddhadvaita( pure non-dualism)	A.D. 1479	Pure ego ( jiva) and Supreme Brahman are one. Souls are like particles of God like the sparks of fire. Devotion and bhakti is emphasized here to obtain release from the bondage of life.
9.	B.G. Tilak		Contemporary ( 19th century)	The book does not describe their views , however, does mention that each has it’s own views and philosophies.
10.	Sri Aurobindo
11.	Gandhi

My humble interpretations:-  Even though these views seem to be very different, the Hindu tradition believes that these are complementary and not contradictory. Diversity is the essence of Hinduism and allows all views to be accommodated as the end result is only one. Most of the above commentators focus on “devotion” as the main path to release oneself from the bondage of life, though the Gita talks of the three paths of “knowledge”( Jnana”), Action( Karma) and devotion ( bhakti). Probably, the times in which these traditions emerged were focused on devotion as there would have been a subtle focus on getting more believers especially after the decline of Buddhism, which had really attracted many and most of these seers would have chosen “devotion” as an easy method as compared to “karma” or “knowledge” which are more arduous and intangible. Even today, we have more religious followers focused on devotion and bhakti, who follow rituals and dogmas, and fewer people quietly practicing the path of “karma” or “knowledge”. All these paths eventually lead to the same goal, though personally, I feel the lengths of each path may be different, and I am more inclined towards the path of “karma” and “knowledge” and show my ‘devotion’ to the work I do and the knowledge I gain. The beauty of this book is that all theories and philosophies are totally acceptable and can be followed in life, but with a purity of mind.

Ultimate Reality

Upanishads talk about the Supreme or Eternal one, "Brahman", without any form, which cannot be described in words, and can only be realised by practising silence and observing the twofold nature: the "para" or transcendent and the "apara" or immanent, one is the subjective and higher form and the other is the objective or material form. In layman's terms, very beautifully, it has been explained to compare with two birds perched on one tree, one of which eats the fruits and the other does not eat but only quietly watches as a silent witness withdrawn from all enjoyment. What is understood from this is that at any point, both these forms co-exist and when we are able to realise the co-existence of these two forms within us, is the point where we have started realising the ultimate reality.

In essence, there are two natures in each one of us, one is the living soul which represents the higher state and the material medium, which is the lower state. We can also interpret it as that "good" and "evil" co-exist in this world. Why is there evil existing in this world if God created this universe?  God or the higher self is not a dictator, but only an influencer. The world consists of active choosing individuals, therefore conflict is inevitable. Basically because there are tendencies to error, ugliness and evil, that is why human beings seek the opposites i.e truth, beauty and goodness. That means there are positive tendencies or affinity for humans towards error, ugliness and evil. In today's world, an analogy that can be easily drawn is the TRP rating of programs which are full of negative ideas and conspiracies especially the family serials where they show so many problems and egoistic conflicts between close family members, which  are extremely popular. There is a positive tendency towards all that is evil and ugly. God has offered this life to us so that we realise this and  resist these tendencies after a conscious understanding of the higher self. So this life is a battlefield where we are constantly fighting these tendencies and moving towards a higher state. As per the Gita, this world is a scene of an active struggle (Mahabharata) between "good" and "evil" in which God is extremely interested. God pours out his Love in helping man to resist all that is evil, ugly and error prone.

Further another beautiful explanation is provided here that there is an "ideal plan" and a "concrete medium" through which the ideal becomes the actual. While God's idea or the ideal plan is seeking for existence, the actual world of existence( material world) is seeking for perfection. So there is this constant work and motion of two ends of the spectrum trying to meet each other, which is the path and purpose of life.Again the concept of Brahma, Visnu and Siva is explained beautifully relating it to the begiining of creation which is represented by Brahma who has creative ideas, God who pours out his love and works hard to save the world is Visnu, and when the result is achieved and God's plan is achieved by the evil getting destroyed by the Good using God's love, the fulfillment of this is represented by Siva. These can also be represented by three values wisdom, love, and perfection respectively. All these three forms or values co-exist and cannot be separated from each other, they are one and conceived in a threefold manner. Gita is primarily concerned with the process of redeeming and saving the world, so Krishna represents Vishnu. ( to be continued...)

THE STATUS OF THE WORLD & CONCEPT OF MAYA

An extremely complex concept this is to explain, yet Dr Radhakrishnan has tried to explain it with a lot of comparisons. The Supreme  (the Brahmana) or the Eternal one or God are all different ways to address the Absolute. This absolute is "Nirguna" ( qualityless) and "acintya"( inconceivable), therefore how can this world be related to it?  However, the entire world depends on this Absolute but the Absolute does not depend on this world. The word "Maya" evolves out of this one-sided relationship.

A beautiful analogy in one of the Upanishads is about the Three States of Waking, Dreaming and Deep Sleep. While in a dream, there is a phenomenon happening of creating a visual scene in the mind and we believe what we are going through in that state. These pictures are real and created by the Self only. But as soon as we wake up, these pictures are gone and are replaced by the "Material World", which we believe is the "ultimate truth" because our "senses" perceive and feel them. However,  when we are in deep sleep, this real world also disappears and the mind goes into oblivion or "nothingness". This deep sleep state is closest to the True Self, which has the potency of  creating the images and scenes in both the dreaming state and the waking state. So all the states of a human mind are dependent on the Self, but the Self exists even without the three states and is unchangeable. 

If we were to call this Ultimate Self as GOD, then God conceals himself through this World and drives our senses outwards to create a "Veil" of sorts to hide himself in the eyes of the beholder. This process is also called "Avarana", and uses the 5 senses to be attracted to the Objects of the world. This is called "the Power of Maya".  Further, when the intelligence of a person is used by a person to wrongly understand and justify their actions, it is called "Vikshepa" or "agitation"which further drives a person away from the Real Self. 

Maya is constituted of "Prakriti" which is made up of the three gunas: Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas. Purusa is the Consciousness which interacts with Prakriti to create the Maya or the World that we see around us. It becomes a source of "Delusion" as it drives one away from realising the creator of the world who is the holder/ creator of both Purusa and Prakriti, in fact a "superset of them". The furious waves of the ocean do not realise that they have been created from the still waters of the vast ocean which is infinitely vast and exist always even when there are no waves. When each wave starts believing that it is its own creation and keeps rising and falling, still not realising that there is one common vast ocean which is it's infinite reality, very similar to that,  we all take multiple births and deaths and keep on living our lives with a lot of egoistic influences, without realising the true "Supreme reality" which is one in all of us, and the main cause for all that is happening in the world. While the Ocean is the cause of the waves, but the waves ferocity or calmness does not affect the ocean a bit too..similarly, how much ever the disturbances are, the supreme infinite reality or the "Brahman" is unaffected and is just an observer. So Maya is the force of delusion that pulls a human being in the "wrong" direction of the senses outwards away from the Supreme Inner Truth and Reality which is inside all of us as "Brahman". 

Ishvara gets the power to combine within itslef the "Sat" and the "Asat", the latter being produced by Maya, which is also called the "shakti" or "Atmavibhuti". So Ishvara and Maya are mutually dependent and beginning less. However this Maya is divine and called "vidyamaya" and then becomes "avidyamaya" for humans who get shut off from the real truth. 

GOD is cloaked by this huge "MAYA" and there begins the duality of contradictions and misery of humankind. Struggle of Opposites in the world of experience.. It is very difficult to penetrate this veil of Maya, but life offers its opportunities to do that through "Purushartha" which indicates huge perseverance and sacrifices to withstand the forces of Maya and transcend the desirous pulls towards the external world of objects and feelings. 

THE INDIVIDUAL SELF

As per the author, the Cosmic Process constitutes of  sheaths with obscure the Infinite reality. As per the Taittiriya Upanishad, the cosmic process assumes 5 stages viz. Anna( Matter), Prana( Life), Manas( Mind), Vijnana ( Intelligence), Ananda ( Bliss).  So the interpretation could be : Mineral forms has only matter, Plant forms have matter and life, Animal forms have Matter, life and Mind, Human forms have matter, life, mind and Intelligence, but there lies an opportunity for a human being to reach the 5th stage of bliss. Beyond these 5 stages lies the "Brahman", or the "Supreme Reality". If a human were to become animalistic and only act through emotions, it would be moving in the opposite direction, if he were to behave like an immobile vegetable, again it is moving in the wrong direction. So the only way ahead is to use the power of Intelligence to find that Bliss and move towards the Infinite Truth or what we call as the State of "Sat-Chit-Ananda".

A beautiful explanation is given here:- A human being gets connected with the Matter, Life and Mind so much that he loses his own individuality, but as he conforms to these forces, he feels comfortable and justified through the sense of security he derives from adhering to the rules of the "group" in the world. So generally seaking, we are all comfortable as long as we dont challenge the status quo and stick to the norms of the society and keep repeating what we have been doing. The example of Arjuna being a Ksatriya and fighting the battle is given here. However, in this battle, Arjuna felt alone when facing the world of nature and society and he does not wish to buy himself the security by submitting to the social standard. This is the point of realisation that there is a Arjuna apart from the "social warrior" and getting uncomfortable or scared is the first step towards moving inwards. When we refuse to conform and seek answers to the "Why" of any of our actions in the outside world, we are actually starting to change our direction from the "outside" to the "inside" towards the fifth sheath of "Ananda". How paradoxical can this be:-  the discomfort and pain felt psychologically is a positive indicator, and the state of comfort is a negative indicator. In other words, life is meant to be a battle field where we have to decide to make ourselves uncomfortable by deeper questions and not get driven by conformance to make ourselves comfortable in the subservience of the external world standards or "forces of Maya". 

I realise this myself that when I am ill and not in pristine health, my mind automatically turns inwards and I  start seeking answers to all the deeper questions within. There seems to be an uncanny connection between feeling ill or uncomfortable to getting closer to the supreme truth or reality. 

Is Vippasana about Buddhism?

       "Vippasana" has created a furore in my house. The moment me and my wife utter this word, my sons say "Oh no, and now you will talk about Vippasana." Others in the family believe that it is a Buddhist technique and something got to do with "Buddhism". Yes, it truly is about "Buddhism", but in the true sense of the word and not in the filtered sectarian "Buddhism" that is prevalent in our world today. Buddhas existed before Siddhartha Gautama and many exist today too, so if we talk about trying to reach their state by practicing something, and if we call this practice as "Buddhism" , then yes Vippasana is about Buddhism. But if you mean that "Buddhist" is one who has to go to a monastery and chant some verses and perform certain rites and rituals, then you are very wrong. 

  Labelling any technique and trying to define it definitely dilutes the very importance of the technique. Vippasana is a technique meant for purification of the mind from the deepest layers. So how is that possible, ask many? Well, what happens when we try to meditate? Our mind wanders, but where does it go? Now, by these questions, we have started a process of observation. These questions are the key. So, instead of just accepting our mind and the thoughts that ensue as  a result of our various experiences, we have started observing our thoughts as if there is another entity that is doing the thinking. This is the key point. But how do we observe because it may not be possible for someone to do that at all, because there is a strong belief that there is nothing true except our own thoughts. Well, that is the mystery! Thoughts have made human beings unconscious and fragmented in perception and views. If only we were  attentive to all that is happening at this instance around us, to observe the fullness and beauty of life around us without labelling any thing or judging anyone, we would realise that all our thoughts are only an outcome of a certain personal reaction due to "EGO" to an external event or stimuli that is recorded and memorized. All these recordings and memories are dormant and lying ready to flood our minds as soon as they get a similar stimuli from external environment. How can this be overcome? Here lies another beautiful fact: The moment we start observing this reaction as another entity observing the behavior of our own mind, the mind calms down and the memory starts to vaporize. An example can be given here:- 

Children at home tend to seek attention by crying even when they are not really hurt. In such situations, based on a certain habit pattern, there are certain reactions evoked from the parents, for example, some parent my react with pity and sympathy, another parent may scold the child and ask the child to shut up as there is actually no issue and the parent is aware of the child's nature. All these reactions can be very spontaneous. If we were to just hold ourselves back and observe the feelings/ thoughts going through our mind when the child screams/ cries for attention, we will observe this thought coming and then slowly ,as if it is a magic happening, subsiding on its own. This is the true form of nature, if you just observe something without any judgment, no memory gets attached and it just passes away. Instead of deriding the thought, we must pause and just observe the thought and say to one self: "See this thought just came to my mind", and then the magic of nature will be visible.

Vippasana is nothing but this art of observation of sensations on our own body which are well beyond our control and are ephemeral and just arise and pass away. These sensations are linked to our mind and based on certain external stimuli and the memories stored in our mind, they manifest as sensations on our bodies. We normally cannot feel these sensations unless they are very strong. All subtle sensations are hidden as our mind cannot sense them normally. Vippasana makes the mind sharper to observe even those subtle sensations. The pivotal point here is that the mind has stopped wandering and is now listening to it's master and is in the "NOW" rather than wandering into the "PAST" or the "FUTURE", which was its original habit.

Therefore, Vippasana is only a tool to master one's mind and try and purify it from the deepest layers by vaporizing all memories and recordings collected due to the external stimulus to one's EGO, which a person mistakes to be self. The "EGO" is not the self and one must learn to differentiate between the two to become more alert and observe the games of the mind.

Thoughts and consciousness- What is the difference?

       These are a few thoughts generated after reading two phenomenal books by Eckhart Tolle- "The Power of NOW' and " The New Earth" :-

Thoughts - Where do they originate from? Are they a reflection of our past experiences?  That means we are always bonded to our past and all our actions that succeed a thought are based on a judgement which is based on our past experience. How true are those judgements? Are the perceptions fragmented as we are missing out the larger vision while looking with coloured filters at situations based on our past experiences which are absolutely specific and personal to each one of us and though it may share similarities with many other people, it still belongs to that individual only and therefore is not a universal truth. Then what is the UNIVERSAL TRUTH? Is it something mystical and special that is known only to the enlightened and that all normal human beings will always keep striving to learn about that ?

      A Lot to introspect, isnt it? I was intrigued when I read many books related to J Krishnamurti, Eckhart Tolle etc.  and realised one thing... there was a deep connection or correlation between all the literature related to spiritual leaders or writers, be it Vippasana, Art of living, Sankaracharya, Sai Baba, Prophet Mohammed, Jesus Christ, Guru Gobind Singh etc. etc. 

What is that---> All spirituality leads to a single direction and that is " INWARDS". 

    This is very difficult to understand, because most of us think that our thoughts are our innards. But have we ever tried to observe our thoughts in silence? If we try this, we will see that there are two entities-- mind and life or should I say energies . The life energy is independent and activates without any control and is actually the "now' moment or the present, whereas the mind energy keeps fluctuating between the past and the present. Don't we feel the minute silence/ blank between two successive thoughts. It is that in between silence which is the actual life energy. What if we were able to extend this moment more and more where there is no thought? Is it possible to do that? IS IT NOT ESCAPISM FROM REALITY? What is reality then, our thoughts or the blank space between two thoughts? 

    How many times have we really observed the beauty of life all around us? Do we hear the birds really in the mornings, rustling of the leaves, fluttering of the wind. Everything is alive and buzzing around us, but how conscious are we about them? Are our thoughts keeping us away from this reality? Is being aware of this reality important? Keeping our mind in a thoughtless space actually makes us aware of everything that is alive and everything is alive, only we were never "CONSCIOUS". So what is consciousness? 

    Here I correlate with Vippasana. When we practice Vippasana, we feel different sensations because our mind has become sharp and is focussed on the present, basically we are attuning ourselves with our life energy and seeing all subtleties that exist within this physical frame of our bodies. The thinking mind is put to rest and our observation in silence of various subtleties is bringing us towards the reality of life or the Universal Truth of impermanence of everything around us and teaches us to be equanimous in all situations whether they are pleasurable or painful. This is an absolute state of consciousness which takes us inwards such that we are able to isolate ourselves from our habitual mind that used to always jump from past to future keeping us away from the present. 

It is very important not to attach any labels here for eg. Vippasana or any other style for that matter because the mind is a game master and will easily deceive you into believing and making this experience as a recording and again slowly push you back into the usual "unconscious" stage of mind fluctuating from past to future etc. Acceptance of the present and trying to be aware and conscious of all life around us at each and every moment as we perform our functions will probably help us to slowly change our habit pattern and take us closer to the reality or the universal truth of consciousness away from the thought filled mind which clouds you with fear, negativity and self- deceit. 

My experiences in life and with Vippasana......

 

 

Questions that arose in the mind remained unanswered. What were these questions? Well let me try and articulate some of the questions :-

Q: What is the reason people go to temples so far away, stand in long serpentine lines for long hours, struggle and jostle in crowds just to look for one second at a diety's idol? Temples are meant to give you peace of mind and harmony, and I always landed up feeling insecure and unsafe standing in between huge crowds and being pushed constantly. Once my 2 year old son was about to be crushed and I had to put him on my shoulders. I always felt why have I come here? Belief and faith is a very good thing and definitely shapes the mind. But I somehow never developed this belief and faith.
 

Q: Why is a woman who is undergoing her monthly periods not allowed to undertake any activity related to prayer of enter inside a temple?.... A woman's body has a natural mechanism of shedding the unimpregnated mass of flesh which would have otherwise formed a womb for a child. Why is that considered impure.. isnt it a biological process of creation by which all of us were born in this world? In olden days, there wasnt a concept of sanitary napkins and bleeding could become visible, so that could have been a a reason for women having periods to be isolated in their houses. Some people explain that it is because women are not supposed to exert themselves on these days as they are bleeding. In olden days, all work at home used to be done manually by the women and this was a way of  giving them rest. Is it applicable today in a world where women are on the helm of affairs in the corporate world, in sports, arts etc.? What happens when there are important conferences, sports matches, tournaments, cultural programs etc. during those days? Do women cancel it because they have bleeding? Then why even today, women are not allowed to enter temples on the days of periods?

Q: What is the meaning of the sankrit verses that are recited at each function by the great priests and why is it necessary to do all the "hawans" and elaborate rites and rituals in today's world of technology and convenience? ... I have tried asking many priests, and rarely one or two could even just explain the process and its significance. Of late there are a lot of books available on the internet on Vedanta philosophy which does give some plausible explanation of all the rites and rituals that have been passed down from generation to generation. What is amiss that we do not achieve what was supposed to be achieved by doing these rites. The realisation in the person's  mind of sacrifice and developing an attitude of sacrifice is the main idea behind most "yajnas" and "homams". But how many of us truly practice this in our daily life?

These questions and many other such related to religion were always  troubling my mind because there was no logic in what was being told to follow blindly. Being an engineer only furthered my inquisition into the logic of things and if I didnt get the apt answer, the practice was ceased forthwith. This kind of attitude was not taken nicely by the elders and they were hurt, as they have been following everything taught by their parents. But could I suppress my inquisitive nature to question and believe in what I sincerely feel is right.  What is it that I felt was right? Well, one principle learnt by me in my life , thanks to the tough training I got in my teens is that " Mind is the most powerful organ in our body, in fact mind controls the body." I knew this in a very superficial way by self experience. I could never run as a child. When I joined training, the first week we were taken for a run by our seniors .. I had to run 14 kms... I had not run more than 1 km in my life and I used to get sick quite often.. I contributed a lot to the pharmaceutical industry in my childhood. I used to live on antibiotics till I was in school. Once I joined training, for three and a half years of my cadets training, I never got fever even once. Why? Because the mind was occupied trying to survive in the new menacing environment and get used to the new way of life. It was an incredible transformation. I became much stronger, determined and developed tremendous will power to do things which others would consider difficult or even impossible. Thus I evolved from a boy to a fully grown man. Well, I thought so, but did I really grow up? I enjoyed myself thoroughly with all pleasures of life at the young aghe, namely biking, drinking, smoking, girlfriends etc. etc. Being a bachelor and staying in Colaba in Mumbai was a great opportunity to enjoy all these things. In fact , I stayed in Cochin, Visakhapatnam, and Mumbai in my bachelor days serving on board ships and submarines and in every place had my full share of enjoyment. Time flew very fast and soon it was time to settle down in life, and so at the ripe age of 27 yrs I got married with a beautiful girl.( It was an arranged marriage).

 I became a family man, married with a beautiful wife and two kids and continued to live life with the theory of keeping your mind strong and facing life bravely. There were many ups and downs and my wife used to tell me at times that I  am too insecure and self oriented. I never believed her and chided her saying that it was my expereince and I know what to do in different situations because of my experience. Whenever we go out for any movie or function, I used to be insecure about reaching early and getting the tickets or good seats etc. When I drove, I used to try and show my skills in reaching faster and always used to feel that no one can drive better than me. These were the result of  experiences and evolution of the mind by experiences in this huge bad world.  Whenever I used to teach my child and he did not understand a very basic principle in any subject, I couldn't control myself and used to shout at him since I had already explained it thrice to him and still he looked blank.Till I reached the age of 36, life went on and all the questions in my mind remained unanswered and I did not have the time or inclination to introspect or seek answers.

 I started introspection in 2008 when I joined an "Art of Living " class. In that they asked me  " Who are you?" and everytime I answered something they again aksed the same question. Well it was aimed at making me see the truth but I could never understand a thing. And then there again I saw "blind belief" in people getting fruits, flowers and sweets for a great living person. While I enjoyed the "Sudarshan kriya" a breathing technique taught by them, the concept of diefying a living person was against my principles. I started running marathons at this time and I found my mind getting calmer as I ran.

In 2011, I joined  a "Sahaj Yoga" camp and here I realised something great. When I was meditating, I felt some sensations on the top of my head and I  learnt about the chakras in our body. But the questions were still unanswered. In 2012, one of my dear friends and colleague, Krishnan told me about this 10 days course called Vippasana. I just listened, not attentively as I thought it to be another similar course  where I would not be able to achieve anything. But as time flew, I do not know what happened , but I decided in 2012 to try this thing out. So I enrolled for the course online as it was being conducted at Mumbai where I was living  and  I just needed to take 10 days leave.  Thus my journey into the "Valley of Answers" started.

Vippasana was an eye opener. It was an amazing , out of life experience for me. It was as if the locked door of knowledge was opened. While I write this I would confess that to put my thoughts on paper will not be easy and may not be understood by many, because Vippasana is not something that can be spoken and heard and understood. It is about experiencing it by each person for himself/ herself and developing an understanding on their own. The teachers only teach the method of practice and once you start practicing it and you understand the concept, life changes totally. Mind settles down, world becomes a beautiful place, you start relating to all natural things around yourself and start understanding reality. All my questions have started getting answered now. I have realised the futility of so many practices and habits that I had been following from childhood. It is all about the mind - body interaction and how the ego and habits cloud a human beings mind and do not allow him/ her to observe reality.  Again, for  a person not into spirituality, these words may seem to be heavy and unrealistic, that is why I had clarified earlier that this is an experiential thing which cannot be explained in words and understood by listening or seeing others.

I had never read our scriptures namely "Vedas". "Bhagwad Gita" etc. earlier. However, after doing Vippasana, I started reading the "Bhagwad Gita" and all that is written there and what I experienced started to match and correlate beautifully. This was a magical thing for me. I started joining the dots. I joined Bhagwad Gita sessions and discussed Vippasana with quite a few people. I found that most  people with whom I spoke, seemed to be really interested in listening to me and when I started telling them about Vippasana and the knowledge that I had gained, I went on for 1 -2 hours and they were all ears. This was true with my friends, my aunt etc. but not with my parents and some other people. I tried to  talk to them, but they used to feel and tell me that what I was doing and practicing is not possible by all and it is very difficult for a normal person to practice all this. Initially, because of my ego, I started arguing with them, and then when I introspected by doing Vippasana, and understood my mistake. I am supposed to be equanimous in all situations, so I needed to accept the reality. This is experiential learning and their mind was not yet ready to experience this. So I stopped arguing and just followed my practice regularly. Every person has to realise it for himself and only when he/ she will have  a desire to seek knowledge about self, have questions to be answered will the doors of knowledge open. In this fast paced world, not many have the luxury of spending time with themselves, so it is a difficult proposition.

Bhagwad Gita understood by me after Vippasana was an amazing experience. It is a great book to have and read daily as every time you read it, new depth of understanding happens. The best part is that now, it is no longer about " Krishna" and "Arjuna" but  "Self" and "consciousness" and therefore the logical answers that I was searching for are all available and as it gets deeper and deeper with more practice, more clarity starts coming on the answers. Unknowingly, attitudes and habit patterns in life have also changed for the better. My wife says that I am no longer insecure and take things calmly and have completely stopped shouting at children when I teach them. ( earlier, I used to get worked up if they don't understand after two-three times of explanations). When I shout at them sternly , I do it with a calm mind with an aim to stop them from doing wrong. The state of mind is the most important thing and learning to accept yourself and the weaknesses after observing them is the key to conquering those very weaknesses. That is how nature is, the more you accept it after observation, the weakness starts reducing on its own. This is a beautiful game of your mind and thoughts and Vippasana is a methodology to play this game and learn as you play.

Chapter 4- The Way of Knowledge

Chapter 4 - The Way of Knowledge

This chapter has 42 verses divided into seven main areas which are as described below:-
(a) The Tradition of Jnana Yoga
(b) The theory of Avatars
(c) The Desireless nature of God's work
(d) Action without Attachment Does not lead to Bondage
(e) Action and Inaction
(f) Sacrifice and its symbolic value
(g) Wisdom and Work

(a) The Tradition of Jnana Yoga. (Verse 1- Verse 4).The first three verses are an introduction given by the Lord  to the tradition of this Yoga which has been passed down generation after generation ( Vivaswan-> Manu-> Iksvaku) but has got lost to the world by lapse of ages. This yoga is a very old form of yoga which is being taught again to Arjuna by Lord Krishna. Lord Krishna is the symbol of the deep consciousness( conscience) within all of us and Arjuna is symbolic of a normal human being. In this entire scripture, we can understand the deep meaning of all the verses when we realise this truth and then observe the meaning of each verse. What is being essentially described is the tradition of "Jnana Yoga", which is the art of  performing certain actions towards seeking knowledge of the actual truth. This truth and path to the truth was discovered long long ago by great scientists of the internal being, whom we respect as  the great sages/ seers. Krishna is only trying to rekindle the lost  art / technique in the mind of Arjuna. Since Arjuna is ignorant and clouded by different feelings at this point of time expresses a doubt in verse 4 that how can Krishna know about this as Vivaswan was born much earlier than Krishna.  This question or doubt of Arjuna takes us to the next section of the chapter -"The theory of Avatars".

(b) The Theory of Avatars. ( Verse 5- Verse 12). Verse 5 talks about the various lives that Krishna has had which he knows about but Arjuna  knows not. Verse 6 brings out the knowledge of the self that is not this physical form or body which is only a carrier of this divine self. The self is the consciousness existing in different life forms which are an outcome of the force of Prakriti( nature). This verse has a very deep meaning and needs more explanation. Life forms manifest due to "maya" which is basically a collection of "karmas" , i.e. the habits formed due to actions of living beings being forced upon them by the five senses.  Based on the accumulation of these habit patterns and karmas, life forms evolve with varying levels of energised "self consciousness". Krishna is a fully conscious self which implies a completely enlightened living being who has achieved ultimate knowledge and truth and therefore can pass on this knowledge to other beings at lower levels of self consciousness. Avatars are basically some individuals who are at much higher levels/ highest level of self consciousness who are the trail blazers for the normal human being. Verses 7 and 8 bring out the essence of the balance in the universe to ensure that the levels of dharma and adharma are balanced by having some trail blazers like Rama, Krishna, Buddha, Jesus, Prophet Mohammed, Guru Nanak etc. who try to teach people to realise the ultimate truth. These people are the so called "avatars". The word "dharma" is emphasised here, which essentially means the "right" way of life. The trail blazers help people to understand the essence of dharma by becoming one of them and then facing difficulties and doubts, come out of the problems and lead as an example to be followed by others. The demons destroyed are these doubts and difficulties faced in life. Verse 9 brings out the fact that he who realises the absolute truth and achieves enlightenment, is released from the cycle of births and deaths. Verse 10 explains that this is achieved by getting rid of passion, fear and anger and when the person is totally absorbed in the self to observe the ultimate truth. Wisdom reveals itself only then and thus enlightenment is achieved. Verse 11 explains that once a person decides to become a seeker and commits to the process, the self or the divine accepts them and shows the path to them. In this process, even if the person seeks for material benefits with a true commitment, even that is achieved. Verse 12 elaborates this fact. Here devatas and Gods are all actually the one and only eternal truth and universal self which is omnipresent and existent in all living beings. A takeaway here is that if a person sincerely devotes and thinks of achieving something in this world, it is obtained easily. This is the secret of the universe and nature. However, such desires and achievements will not take a person to see the absolute truth. This takes us to the next section.

(c) The Desireless nature of God's Work.    (Verse 13-Verse 22) : Verse 13 talks about the four castes in the caste system. The specific terms used are "guna" and "karma" , which means that the castes were created based on the aptitude ('guna') and function ('karma') and not birth. This fourfold order was designed for human evolution and conduct was the only determining feature of caste. The present system of defining castes by birth is against the whole fundamental knowledge of BhagwadGita.  Verse 14 talks about not having any desires of the fruits of labour/work and therefore there is no bondage of work. Verse 15 says that in former times, men used to do work in the true spirit without thinking of the results for themselves and thus not having any bondage with the work. All work was directed towards improvement of the world. Verse 16 and 17 brings out a question of the difference between "action" and "inaction" and how to differentiate between the two and also try and identify a wrong action. Verse 18 explains the concept of seeing action in inaction, meaning that inaction describes a method of doing work without any attachment to the desires that are there in our mind. Inaction does not mean refraining from action but refraining from any action that is resulting from attachment to our own desires. Inaction here also means selfless and desire-less action. Turning away from action and calling it renunciation is actually an action performed by fools and ignorant people. Sitting down quietly and meditating is an action as you are doing an action to quieten your mind and body. This does not imply that one should abstain from performing his/her duties, in fact, all duties and responsibilities are to be performed without any desire for result for self. Verse 19 describes a Buddha as a person who has freedom from selfish desire and has an outlook based out of wisdom. Verse 20 explains that such a Buddha abandons the attachment to the fruit of work and works without any kind of dependence. Verse 21 is about the nature of work done by a Buddha who having no desires, with the heart and self under control, giving up all possessions, performs work for the maintenance of the body and therefore does no wrong. Verse 22 explains the concept of equanimous state of mind in pleasure and pain, in success and failure, freedom from jealousy and satisfaction with whatever is the result.

(d) Sacrifice and Its Symbolic value.   (Verse 23-Verse 32):Verses 23 - Verse 30 bring out the essence of sacrifice and its symbolic value. It is explained that any work performed as a sacrifice which here essentially means "self-control" especially of sense objects. An apt example in practical life would be when we feel very hungry/ desirous whenever we see/ smell any of our "favourite" dish. Even when someone speaks about it, a desire arises to have it as if it is there in front of us. Similarly when we do not get the deserved promotion, we get this feeling of anger and jealousy on the others who have been luckier. These are all sense objects and the context of sacrifice here is to give up on the reaction to these stimuli. When we offer food and articles to God during a yajna, it is symbolic of sacrificing something that you deeply desire. The concept of sacrificing breath by restraining the breath is explained in verse 29. Actually, observing one’s sensations in times of stimuli from external sources such as described above is very difficult, so the breath is used as a medium to observe. Actually, the body is giving signals all the time with the breath, moment a desire/ anger/ jealousy/ greed/ anxiety arises, the breath changes and if one is observant on the breath( inhalation & exhalation), the pace would change drastically. So restraining this change in breath would also be a sacrifice as it may suppress the feeling that is trying to evoke a reaction. Verse 31 brings out the importance of sacrifice by stating that one must eat only the remnants of food after the sacrifice to attain the insights of the enlightened one, basically the verse is trying to bring out that the intention of sacrifice in human being ensures that one gives first and then only has anything for himself/ herself. Any such human being who follows this strictly in life is sure to attain enlightenment very soon. Verse 32 explains that there are various means of sacrifice and all/ any of these would enable human beings to reach the state of enlightenment.

(e) Wisdom and Work . (Verse 33- Verse 42): Knowledge as a sacrifice is superior to any material sacrifice. What is essentially meant here is that the yearning to gain knowledge by reasoning and inquiry is critical and important. Accepting something blindly is not knowledge, inquiry and satisfying the reasoning by own intellect is the first step towards gaining knowledge. One must seek a teacher and then inquire and read and reason for oneself with own intellect to develop an understanding and personal knowledge. But that alone is not sufficient, as the next step the person has to tread the path of  introspection inwards and experience the knowledge and realize the spirit which would lead to wisdom. Reading Scriptures- Pranipata Sravana, Intellectual Reasoning- Pariprasna-Manana; Realization by meditation and service- Seva-Nididhyasana are the three steps described for gaining knowledge and wisdom. In other words, faith comes first, then Knowledge and then experience leads to wisdom. When one follows this path, the sense of difference is destroyed and actions do not bind. Nature is great and does not differentiate, any one who starts following this path starts getting immediate results, even if a thousand sins were committed earlier by the person. Verse 37 amplifies this by saying that the fire of wisdom burns to ashes all work which includes any crime/ sin that has been committed by the person or any binding work which was done for selfish motives. Verse 38 brings out the purity of the wisdom and states that one who practices this path finds the purity for himself/ herself in due course of time. Verse 39-42 emphasises on the importance of faith in terms of the commitment required and the hard work needed to be put in to subdue one's senses to gain wisdom. Once the wisdom is gained, supreme peace is attained. Sense data and logical inferences will only lead to doubts and scepticism whereas unwavering faith and actions of sacrifice and service and efforts in introspection and learning about the inner aspects of life would lead one to wisdom and supreme peace.Verse 41 states that a doubting person or a person with wavering faith will never be able to reach the sate of supreme peace and therefore is on a path of degradation and will be clouded by ignorance as life passes, this cloud will keep becoming thicker and thicker and eventually lead to misery and unhappiness. Therefore the path described above needs to be followed by one and all with complete faith and devotion and commitment of consistent practice of sacrifice and service to attain the supreme state of peace and move upwards in this path of life.