I was to read chapters 7 through 9 of the Bhagavad Gita. Chapter 7 which is about Wisdom and Realization begins with Lord Krishna as being the Supreme Truth, the supreme cause and sustaining force of everything, both material and spiritual. It states “ I will teach you the essence of this wisdom and its realization; when you come to master this there is nothing further that needs to be known (7.2 pg. 99).” Though many seek vijnana, only a few reach it, because it requires such a mastered dedication to the divine through yoga and meditation. Krishna is revealing the truth of himself, not some other kind of truth. It is immediate, absolute, no questions left, no doubts lingering. Krishna tells Arjuna that this knowledge is rare in the world. …show more content…
Only through knowledge, Brahma-Vidya, is this possible. But there is many ways to become confused or lost, in the world of time and space, of body, mind, ritual and desire. The knowledge is said to be secret because even if you hear the teachings, it is rarely understood. Also, it is not a normal way of acquiring knowledge. But with total commitment, compassion, faith, grace and devotion, success is near. Krishna states, “Whatever you do, Arjuna, do it as an offering to me - whatever you or eat or pray or enjoy or suffer ( 9.27 pg 118).” A mature mind is needed for spiritual knowledge. Arjuna asks Krishna how the wise soul comes to be united with Krishna at the end of his life. Krishna remarks that at the time of death Arjuna must keep his mind focused on the divine. If he does, then he can be united with Krishna, or else suffer rebirth in the karmic cycle of samsara. By remembering Lord Krishna in devotion throughout one's life, and especially at the time of death, one can ascend to His supreme abode, beyond the material world. Krishna tells Arjuna that the "secret" to life is the path of yoga, for it frees one from evil and pain, it frees one from the material world. For as the divinity, Krishna says he sends creatures back to Earth again and again in the form of prakriti, or material form, born again and again to life, until the karmic cycle is extinguished. He has created …show more content…
Krishna tells Arjuna that if he by the time he dies is so focused on the divine that his thoughts naturally gravitate there, then he is ready for freedom at the time of death and will end his samsaric cycle. Lastly, Krishna notes that it is he who has the divine power to bring people into the karmic cycle or free people from it. It is part of his lila, to subject each soul to the natural laws of the universe which require living out one's karma until it is dissolved. He is the final judge of wisdom, and no one else, so unless through meditation one finds union with Krishna, one will continue through the cycle of birth and
Freethinking that leads him to the river where he learns the concepts of time and timelessness. From seeing many disciples of varying religions, Siddhartha decides that wisdom is incommunicable. His last revelation comes when he reaches nirvana. The two worlds of spiritualism and materialism do not exist as forces to side with, but powers to be in harmony with. The ideas discovered come through his life experiences and most significantly at the river and the nature of it.
As human beings, we sometimes can not synchronize our minds and souls. When we are at our success of knowledge or intellect, we blind our mind with our ambition which comes along in reaching the knowledge or intellect. As a young brahmin, Siddhartha, has been taught that Brahmin is the soul of "Atman" or the 'Only One' (Chapter 1, page 5). It means that Brahmin is the highest position beside the Creator. This intellect alienates Siddhartha's 'Self'. He does not think that his superior's 'Self' will give him salvation. Siddhartha thinks his 'Self' conquers himself. He wants his 'Self" to die to find wisdom and spiritual knowledge.
While discovering the third noble truth, Siddhartha departs from the Buddha and his friend, Govinda, leaving him to possess the carte blanche to do whatever must be done to uncover what he desires to know. On the path away from his friend and the Buddha, he says, “I was seeking Brahman, Atman, I wished to destroy myself, to get away from myself, in order to find in the unknown innermost, the nucleus of all things, Atman, Life, the Divine, the Absolute. But by doing so I lost myself on the way” (31). In summary, Siddhartha ponders about his desire to attain more wisdom and how he knows that desire causes suffering, which leads him to realize that he has strayed and that he needs to end his desire to end his suffering. He will only obtain what he wants if he rids his desire to learn more. By giving up his desire for knowledge he finds himself. Another indication of this can be unveiled in chapter 3 stating, “This is why I am continuing my travels--not to seek other, better teachings for I know there are none.” In other words Siddhartha has desired more knowledge all of his life and now he has had his eyes opened. He now knows that because he has desired more wisdom so badly he has suffered so much trying to get it, and not getting it. The knowledge Siddhartha wants is the one thing that after years of searching for he has not found and that is how he suffered from his own
Seeking nirvana, Siddhartha assessed his situation and came to the conclusion that he had learned all there was to learn from his home and his teachers there. So he found new teachers, the Samanas. Through their teachings, he could only find the higher self by killin...
Hinduism focuses on liberation from the realm of samsara, the cycle of rebirth and death, while Confucianism focuses on the Dao, the correct way to act for society, and ren, or benevolence. Both religions have religious texts that reflect these ideals, the Bhagavad-Gita belonging to Hinduism, and the Analects belonging to Confucianism. While these two texts originate from two distinct religions, the two have some similarities and differences. Both the Bhagavad-Gita and the Analects address the proper way for one to act; however, they differ when it comes to heaven and the main concern of each text. The main concern of the Bhagavad-Gita is a personal journey, achieving moksa through devotion to Brahman, and the main concern of the Analects is a communal journey, maintaining social propriety through the five relationships.
achieve this blissful nirvana, the viewer would have to empty his mind of any knowledge
Arjuna gives up now, he will be full of shame, and a man who has given up
Throughout the tale, Siddhartha strives to be one with Atman, or internal harmony/eternal self, but by his own attainment. Even when he is offered the insight of Gotama, the divine and perfect one, who is the embodiment of peace, truth, and happiness, he refuses following him and decides to attain Nirvana in his own way. In this, Siddhartha shows his prideful nature but also reveals a positive aspect: self-direction. He realizes that others' ways of teaching can only be applied to their past experiences, but is still reluctant to ac...
The fourth noble truth, magga, is the path by which man comes to know nirvana. The way to
The concept of reincarnation is related to karma, karma deals with a system of rewards and punishment based on the actions of the individual (Oxtopy & Segal 266). Due to bad karma by the individual, it takes many lifetimes for the karma to be worked out; reincarnation also known as samsara in Hinduism is an ongoing cycle of death and rebirth. To be released from the cycle of samsara, to achieve moksha one must reach enlightenment (Oxtopy & Segal 266-267). In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna, an incarnation of the ultimate deity as a personal god in the Hindu religion, explains three ways to moksha: the way of action, the way of knowledge, and the way of devotion. The Gita also made it clear that one should strive for moksha in everyday of our life as long as we act without attachment (Oxtopy & Segal 274). Reincarnation a concept widely receive by Hindu’s around the world, there are evidence to support the truth of this concept.
understanding of love, truth and honesty he reaches sanity and dies in purity of the
All human beings have an immortal soul (atma) which is part of God and is on a journey to reunite with Him (Mukti).
The Bhagavad-Gita teaches many things, and amongst these, morality and moral law are developed for the Hindu religion. What Krishna, the primary Hindu god, declares in this somewhat epic poem to be the "basis of good in this world" (stanza 3, pg. 620 of text) is for people to take action. Action, as he goes on to state, is within the very nature of our beings to do. Krishna even states that "without action you even fail to sustain your own body" (stanza 8, pg. 620 of text). Thus, Krishna feels that action is very important and key. To take this concept as a relation to ethics, Krishna tells Arjuna, the warrior he is talking to in this poem, that "Action imprisons the world unless it is done as sacrifice; freed from attachment, Arjuna, perform action as sacrifice!" (stanza 9, pg. 620 of text). Thus, Krishna is prescribing that, in order for an action to be considered good, the good that he already declared to be the basis of all good in the world, one must detach himself from the action being performed and perform the action sacrificially. The detachment aspect is incredibly important to Krishna, for he proclaims that in "performing action with detachment, one achieves supreme good" (stanza 19, pg 620 of text). By doing this, Krishna believes that the world is preserved, for other people will follow the warrior's actions and imitate them in their own lives. A leader, such as a warrior or king, "sets the standard for the world to follow" (stanza 21, pg. 621 of text), as Krishna says and thus must take whatever action is necessary for the world to not be destroyed, to set examples of goodness and right in his own actions. By separating himself from these actions, thus becoming detached, he can achieve this. Another main reason that Krishna feels detachment is necessary is this: "You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of action. Never consider yourself the cause of the results of your activities, and never be attached to not doing your duty." (Bhagavad-Gita 2.47). Thus, so long as one does not profit from his own actions, the action itself is good. And, this is Krishna's prescription for leading a life of morality and duty is the moral law to follow in order to achieve this.
When he stops being possessive of body and ideas, he may realize that everything, including his most intimate self, is loaned to him by God.... ... middle of paper ... ... Gandhi did it, but the man who wrote books on Gandhi says he used to meditate, so is meditation the answer to the questions Hindus raise?
Krishna describes the body in relation to the soul in the first disclosure during the great battle. Arjuna is caught in a situation where he must choose to fight and kill his own family in war (11). Krishna encourages Arjuna to fight, because nothing on Earth can harm the atman. Krishna believes, “these bodies have an end; but they are said to belong to the eternal embodied self that which is never lost and cannot be measured (21).” To Krishna the bodies are not significant on account of the body will only be a temporary vessel. Warfare is necessary in Krishna’s eyes in view of the atman will still survive death regardless of what the circumstance. This idea of the body being worthless to humanity is the central theme in Krishna’s theory. The body to him is a mere vessel that...