Psychology of the Bhagavad Gita

[Guest guest]

Gurubuster-

 

It'll take me a while to absorb your e-mail...:-) But to answer your question, I

have read the Gita on its own. I'm attracted to interpretations because of my

confusion regarding the original stanzas. But then I end up getting more

confused anyway, so it obviously doesn't help matters.

 

, Gurubuster <fanatofida wrote:

>

[Guest guest]

Thanks Salma!

 

....Sure!

 

Seeing every aspect of our lives as sacred is the real thing for me!

Specially when focusing Devi.

 

Kryiananda also tell us in his comments that Paramahamsa Yogananda advised a

disciple who was getting weak and sick to be careful with

the interrupting of meat eating so abruptly like that disciple was doing

cause that would risk the health of that body so used to meat... so he

advised him to make that process very gradually!

 

He dealt wisely, as an incredible guide would do, with something treated as

a total taboo by yogis and " hindu " dharmis as a whole!

 

To me, thats guru wisdom.

 

thanks again!

 

 

On Sat, Nov 14, 2009 at 1:30 PM, sd <salharmonica wrote:

 

>

>

> Rafael-

>

> Thanks for your thoughts. I especially related to this:

>

> " As always, some real spiritual clever good points and others more obscure

> and simplistic not in the good way like: God entrapped us in material world

> and made self-realization something real hard so we could think it is

> worthy... something like working hard to buy a beautiful watch in the end

> of

> the month? "

>

> [....]

> I would think that someone who's truly enlightened would be open to the

> fact that partnership can be spiritual in itself, for some people. Thoughts?

[Guest guest]

sd wrote:

>

>

> Gurubuster-

>

> It'll take me a while to absorb your e-mail...:-)

>

 

 

--------

 

The absorption........ if it is...........is instantaneous.

 

Time is a notion, hence reflection, pondering, analysis, conclusion

whether of agreement or disagreement....all of which require time......

 

...are all themselves notional hooplas.

 

---------

 

 

 

> But to answer your question, I have read the Gita on its own.

>

 

 

--------

 

Which is another interpretation.

 

Arjun after all the dust had settled on the battlefield of Kuruskhetra

had settled and after he had donned a new Dhoti.....

 

......requested Krishna to do a encore of his prattling performance just

before the battle started.

 

 

Krishna declined ...........indicating you cannot step in the same

waters twice in a flowing river.

 

 

After the rendition in the moment through the vehicle named

Krishna.....on the playing fields of Kuruskhetra.....

 

 

........any further re-production.......is interpretative remix.

 

-----

 

 

> I'm attracted to interpretations because of my confusion regarding the

> original stanzas. But then I end up getting more confused anyway, so

> it obviously doesn't help matters.

>

 

--------

 

Rather than trying to clear the confusion........which only morphs the

confusion......

 

.....the inviting to ascertain..........just who is it......... that is

confused.

 

Rather than the what, the who.

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Salma -

 

> Your last point is a good one! But what would you say about sexual activity?

I'm against overindulging in that for personal reasons, but can you relate that

to hurting the Earth?

 

Doesn't the desire to attract partners often lead people to desire all sorts of

things that they hope will help to make them _attractive_? For instance,

fashionable clothes, the right sort of mobile phone, cosmetics, cosmetic

surgery, a house or apartment the intended partner (or partners) will feel

comfortable in...?

 

>Ironically, the more I read and think about spiritual issues, the more confused

I become. For such a long time, I thought Hinduism was benign and

non-judgemental in comparison to the brimstone and hellfire of Christianity. But

now that I'm reading Yogananda's interpretation of the Gita, this sacred book

seems to be as 'fire and brimstone' motivated as the Bible! I don't know what to

think...I'm feeling a bit disoriented.

 

Different Hindu writings and schools offer a range of viewpoints and visions --

as do different Christian writings and schools for that matter. I know what you

mean by brimstone and hellfire; but there is also a section of the Bible called

the Song of Songs, which celebrates Solomon's union with his dark bride, the

Shulamite; just as the Gita Govinda (a different piece of writing to the

Bhagavad Gita) celebrates the love of Radha and Krishna.

 

Om Shantih

Colin

[Guest guest]

The practitioner and scholar of Kashmir Shaivism par excellence, Abhinavagupta,

wrote a commentary on the Bhagavad Gita called Gitartha Samgraha.

 

I have not read this work, but perhaps someone in the group has, and could offer

some insight, given that Sri Abhinavagupta was a tantrika.

 

For those interested in obtained a recent rendering of this text, it is

available from http://www.exoticindiaart.com/book/details/IDD714/.

 

Even if you're not interested in getting the book, there is useful information

given on the page above, including a few excerpts from the text with brief

context given.

 

The following is taken from the above page describing the book, and it comes

" From the Jacket " :

 

---

Abhinavagupta explains in his commentary that he undertook this work because he

felt that his predecessors when commenting on the Bhagavad Gita had not

understood its secret or exoteric meanings. With the main purpose to explain

these exoteric meaning, Abhinvavagupta elaborates the secret doctrine of the

purification of the sense organs through the alternation of enjoyment of worldly

objects and deep meditation. He claims that the continuous exchange of two

contradictory experiences, i.e., gratification of the senses, which brings

satisfaction and samadhi in which sense organs are reduced to one's own atman,

quickly brings the highest good.

---

C.

[Guest guest]

Well...I see what you're saying about the acquisition of material things, etc.

but all that is just attraction on a superficial level. If someone really wants

to attract a spiritual love in her or his life, all that stuff isn't really

important.

 

I had no idea about that part of Christianity. THanks!

 

salma

 

, " colin777au " <colinr wrote:

>

>

>

> Salma -

>

> > Your last point is a good one! But what would you say about sexual activity?

I'm against overindulging in that for personal reasons, but can you relate that

to hurting the Earth?

>

> Doesn't the desire to attract partners often lead people to desire all sorts

of things that they hope will help to make them _attractive_? For instance,

fashionable clothes, the right sort of mobile phone, cosmetics, cosmetic

surgery, a house or apartment the intended partner (or partners) will feel

comfortable in...?

>

> >Ironically, the more I read and think about spiritual issues, the more

confused I become. For such a long time, I thought Hinduism was benign and

> non-judgemental in comparison to the brimstone and hellfire of Christianity.

But now that I'm reading Yogananda's interpretation of the Gita, this sacred

book seems to be as 'fire and brimstone' motivated as the Bible! I don't know

what to think...I'm feeling a bit disoriented.

>

> Different Hindu writings and schools offer a range of viewpoints and visions

-- as do different Christian writings and schools for that matter. I know what

you mean by brimstone and hellfire; but there is also a section of the Bible

called the Song of Songs, which celebrates Solomon's union with his dark bride,

the Shulamite; just as the Gita Govinda (a different piece of writing to the

Bhagavad Gita) celebrates the love of Radha and Krishna.

>

> Om Shantih

> Colin

>

[Guest guest]

That seems to be along the lines of the moderation issue Krsna advised, no?

 

, " intimationsofinfinity "

<intimationsofinfinity wrote:

>

> The practitioner and scholar of Kashmir Shaivism par excellence,

Abhinavagupta, wrote a commentary on the Bhagavad Gita called Gitartha Samgraha.

>

> I have not read this work, but perhaps someone in the group has, and could

offer some insight, given that Sri Abhinavagupta was a tantrika.

>

> For those interested in obtained a recent rendering of this text, it is

available from http://www.exoticindiaart.com/book/details/IDD714/.

>

> Even if you're not interested in getting the book, there is useful information

given on the page above, including a few excerpts from the text with brief

context given.

>

> The following is taken from the above page describing the book, and it comes

" From the Jacket " :

>

> ---

> Abhinavagupta explains in his commentary that he undertook this work because

he felt that his predecessors when commenting on the Bhagavad Gita had not

understood its secret or exoteric meanings. With the main purpose to explain

these exoteric meaning, Abhinvavagupta elaborates the secret doctrine of the

purification of the sense organs through the alternation of enjoyment of worldly

objects and deep meditation. He claims that the continuous exchange of two

contradictory experiences, i.e., gratification of the senses, which brings

satisfaction and samadhi in which sense organs are reduced to one's own atman,

quickly brings the highest good.

> ---

>

> C.

>

[Guest guest]

Not having read Abhinavagupta's work, I can't add much of my own, but my sense

is that it goes beyond the moderation tack; that artha or meaning is already

patently available in a reading of the Gita.

 

What his commentary purports to unfold is its rahasya or inner import, and, he

being a tantrika, it can be pretty much assured that his analysis will run along

a different line than the standard ones based on the Vedantic perspective using

the Upanishads and the Brahma Sutras in addition to the Gita as the foundational

texts and reference points for a discourse.

 

Though I don't like to quote wholesale too much, I know many readers will not go

to the page given below, and for their convenience, I've reproduced some text

from there.

 

---------

He does not want to repeat the interpretations of his predecessors, such as

Bhatta Bhaskara, and does not comment on the verses where the meaning of the

text is obvious. For this very reason, he did not comment on each and every

verse of the Gita's text. He is concerned with the essence of the teaching (cp.

18, 63), which is supreme non-duality (paramaadvaita), and which can neither be

satisfactorily explained by the dry philosophical system of Samkhya (18, 67),

nor Vedanta. He clearly states in his interpretation of 18, 63 that the

knowledge taught by Sri Krsna to Arjuna is more esoteric than Vedanta

(guhyat-vedantadapi guhyam). It is because the author was concerned with the

essence of the Gita and not with its commonly understood meaning that the

commentary is called arthasamgraha, and neither bhasya nor tika.

 

But what is this esoteric meaning? To give only a few examples: when in chapter

4 a kind of pranayama is taught, and it is said that prana is offered into

apana, and also apana is offered into prana (verses 29-30), Abhinavagupta does

not only give the yogic interpretation, where prana in the form of primordial

sound (nada) is rising through the subtle centers of the yogic body, but he also

gives a secret practice of initiation, where the apana (inhaling breath) [is] of

the guru. In this process, both guru and disciple attain liberation.

 

Similarly, the different kinds of sacrifice are explained as an offering into

the fire of one-pointedness, which is also interpreted in the light of a

practice described in the Vijnana Bhairava: " This fire of one-pointedness, which

is insatiated, is lit by right knowledge. The purport is that they grasp objects

either (really) enjoyed or imagined by a one-pointed mind, while at the same

time they turn away from all other objects. " (4:27-28).

 

By these esoteric interpretations in the light of Kashmir Shaivism, the Gita

reveals a new dimension of spiritual practice or yoga.

---------

 

, " sd " <salharmonica wrote:

>

> That seems to be along the lines of the moderation issue Krsna advised, no?

>

> , " intimationsofinfinity "

<intimationsofinfinity@> wrote:

> > ---

> > Abhinavagupta explains in his commentary that he undertook this work because

he felt that his predecessors when commenting on the Bhagavad Gita had not

understood its secret or exoteric meanings. With the main purpose to explain

these exoteric meaning, Abhinvavagupta elaborates the secret doctrine of the

purification of the sense organs through the alternation of enjoyment of worldly

objects and deep meditation. He claims that the continuous exchange of two

contradictory experiences, i.e., gratification of the senses, which brings

satisfaction and samadhi in which sense organs are reduced to one's own atman,

quickly brings the highest good.

> > ---

> >

> > C.

[Guest guest]

salma

the confusioin is very natural. one should have confusion before getting the

enlightenment. iam sure this will slowly lead you to more brighter paths.

the reply of gurubuster was really nice.

enjoyment of pleasure try to do without the element of desire

pranam

 

, Gurubuster <fanatofida wrote:

[Guest guest]

In a somewhat similar vein, group members might find the

following interesting:

_Poised for Grace: Annotations on the Bhagavad Gita

from a Tantric Perspective_

Douglas Brooks

Anusara Press, 2008

ISBN 978-0-9791509-7-5

 

Brooks draws from Abhinavagupta's work, but notes

" [....] I [brooks] have chosen a broader Tantric

rendering rooted in my own studies and experience

from within the tradtion. I mean to paint in broad

stroakes and yet create a picture that is coherent

enough to suggest a strategy for the reader's studies of

the _Bhagavadgita_ as a Tantric text. "

 

I haven't seen the book on the used booksites yet, and

Amazon didn't have it the last time I looked. In

the U.S. it's available from

http://preview.tinyurl.com/ydffyq5

 

, " intimationsofinfinity "

<intimationsofinfinity wrote:

>

> [....] Abhinavagupta's work, [....] he being a tantrika, it can be pretty much

assured that his analysis will run along a different line than the standard ones

based on the Vedantic perspective [....]

 

>