There is more to life than the everyday experience of our senses
It is our destiny as human beings to make this journey ourselves. Everything else is secondary
Is wider eld of consciousness is our native land. We are not cabindwellers, born to a life cramped and con ned; we are meant to explore, to seek, to push the limits of our potential as human beings. e world of the senses is just a base camp: we are meant to be as much at home in consciousness as in the world of physical reality
Brahmavidya, the 'supreme science' – supreme because where other sciences studied the external world, brahmavidya sought knowledge of an underlying reality which would inform all other studies and activities. The study of the mind
(1) there is an in nite, changeless reality beneath the world of change; (2) this same reality lies at the core of every human personality; (3) the purpose of life is to discover this reality experientially: that is, to realize God while here on earth
See the Lord in every creature and act accordingly
When a person responds to the joys and sorrows of others as if they were his own, he has attained the highest state of spiritual union
I am ever present to those who have realized me in every creature. Seeing all life as my manifestation, they are never separated from me. ey worship me in the hearts of all, and all their actions proceed from me. Wherever they may live, they abide in me
Upanishads agree on their central ideas: Brahman, the Godhead; Atman, the divine core of personality; dharma, the law that expresses and maintains the unity of creation; karma, the web of cause and e ect; samsara, the cycle of birth and death; moksha, the spiritual liberation that is life's supreme goal
Brahman: the Godhead, the divine ground of existence
The things we see 'out there' are not ultimately separate from each other and from us; we perceive them as separate because of the limitations of our senses. If our eyes were sensitive to a much ner spectrum, we might see the world as a continuous eld of matter and energy
Senses, emotions, will, intellect, ego – each in ux. At di erent times and in di erent company, the same person seems to have di erent personalities. Moods shi and icker, even in those who are emotionally stable; desires and opinions change with time. Change is the nature of the mind
Just as the world dissolves into a sea of energy, the mind dissolves into a river of impressions and thoughts, a ow of fragmentary data that do not hold together
In profound meditation, they found, when consciousness is so acutely focused that it is utterly withdrawn from the body and mind, it enters a kind of singularity in which the sense of a separate ego disappears. In this state, the supreme climax of meditation, the seers discovered a core of consciousness beyond time and change. ey called it simply Atman, the Self
The image of God is found essentially and personally in all mankind. Each possesses it whole, entire and undivided, and all together not more than one alone. In this way we are all one, intimately united in our eternal image, which is the image of God and the source in us of all our life
In the unitive experience, every trace of separateness disappears; life is a seamless whole
Maya becomes the creative power of the Godhead, the primal creative energy that makes unity appear as the world of innumerable separate things with 'name and form
We behold what we are, and we are what we behold.
When we look at unity through the instruments of the mind, we see diversity; when the mind is transcended, we enter a higher mode of knowing – turiya, the fourth state of consciousness – in which duality disappears
Those who disidentify themselves with the conditions of perception in maya wake up into a higher mode of knowing in which the unity of life is apprehended directly
Yoga, as is the state of union: the word comes from the root yuj, to yoke or bind together
Experience itself (properly speaking, it is beyond experience) is called samadhi. And the state attained is moksha or nirvana, both of which signify going beyond the conditioning of maya – time, space, and causality
In this state we realize that we are not a physical creature but the Atman, the Self, and thus not separate from God. We see the world not as pieces but whole, and we see that whole as a manifestation of God. Once identi ed with the Self, we know that although the body will die, we will not die; our awareness of this identity is not ruptured by the death of the physical body. us we have realized the essential immortality which is the birthright of every human being. To such a person, the Gita says, death is no more traumatic than taking o an old coat
Life holds opportunity to love, to serve, and to give
Dharma means many things, but its underlying sense is 'that which supports,' from the root dhri, to support, hold up, or bear
On a larger scale, dharma means the essential order of things, an integrity and harmony in the universe and the a airs of life that cannot be disturbed without courting chaos. us it means rightness, justice, goodness, purpose rather than chance
The highest dharma is ahimsa, nonviolence, universal love for all living creatures; for every kind of violence is a violation of dharma, the fundamental law of the unity of life
Every act or thought has consequences, which themselves will have consequences; life is the most intricate web of interconnections. is is the law of karma
The law of karma states simply that every event is both a cause and an e ect. Every act has consequences of a similar kind, which in turn have further consequences and so on; and every act, every karma, is also the consequence of some previous karma
Is refers not only to physical action but to mental activity as well
Everything that happens to us, good and bad, originated once in something we did or thought
We ourselves are responsible for what happens to us, whether or not we can understand how. It follows that we can change what happens to us by changing ourselves; we can take our destiny into our own hands
Everything we do produces karma in the mind. In fact, it is in the mind rather than the world that karma's seeds are planted
Consider karma an educative force whose purpose is to teach the individual to act in harmony with dharma – not to pursue sel sh interests at the expense of others, but to contribute to life and consider the welfare of the whole
We never really encounter the world; all we experience is our own nervous system
To discover unity, consciousness has to be withdrawn from the hold of the senses, which ties it to duality
When the senses contact sense objects, a person experiences cold or heat, pleasure or pain. ese experiences are eeting; they come and go. Bear them patiently, Arjuna. Those who are not a ected by these changes, who are the same in pleasure and pain, are truly wise and t for immortality
The sensory attraction of pleasure is just an interaction between inert elements of similar stu , very much like a magnetic pull between two objects. We are not involved. When I look at a fresh, ripe mango, it is natural for my senses to respond; that is their nature. But I should be able to stand aside and watch this interaction with detachment, the way people stand and watch while movers unload a van. In that way I can enjoy what my senses report without ever having to act compulsively on their likes and dislikes
If one idea is central to yoga psychology, it is that thoughts are real and have real, tangible consequences, as we saw in the discussion of karma. Sankhya describes thoughts as packets of potential energy, which grow more and more solid when favorable conditions are present and obstacles are removed. ey become desires, then habits, then ways of living with physical consequences
Kindness to others favors a nervous system that is kind to itself
Every state of matter and mind is a combination of these three: tamas, inertia, rajas, activity, and sattva, harmony or equilibrium
Tamas is frozen energy, the resistance of inertia. A block of ice has a good deal of energy in the chemical bonds that hold it together, but the energy is locked in, bound up, rigid. When the ice melts, some of that energy is released as the water ows; rajas, activity, is like a swollen river, full of uncontrolled power. And sattva, harmony, can be compared with steam when its power is harnessed
Tamas, the lowest level, is the vast unconscious, a chaotic dumping ground for the residue of past mental states
Unconscious in this sense has something in common with Jung's collective unconscious, in that it is the repository not only of past experiences but also of our evolutionary heritage, the basic drives of the human being's animal past. is record is shared, of course, by all human beings, and at its deepest levels the unconscious is universal. ere is no choice in tamas, no awareness; this is complete ignorance of the unity of life, ignorance of any other need than one's own basic urges. Rajas is what we ordinarily mean by mind, the incessant stream of thought that races along, desiring, worrying, resenting, scheming, competing, frustrating and getting frustrated. Rajas is power released, but uncontrolled and egocentric. Sattva, nally, is the so-called higher mind – detached, unru ed, self-controlled. is is not a state of repressive regulation, but the natural harmony that comes with unity of purpose, character, and desire. Negative states of mind do still come up, prompted by tamas and rajas, but there is no need to act on them
The rajasic person is full of energy; the tamasic person is sluggish, indi erent, insensitive; the sattvic person, calm, resourceful, compassionate, and sel ess
All three are always present at some level of awareness, and their proportions change: their interplay is the dynamics of personality. e same individual will have times when he is bursting with energy and times when inertia descends and paralyzes his will, times when he is thoughtful and other times when he is moving so fast that he never notices those around him. e person is the same; he is simply experiencing the play of the gunas. As long as he identi es with his body and mind, he is at the mercy of this play. But the Self is not involved in the gunas' interaction; it is witness rather than participant
Personality is a process, the human being is constantly remaking himself or herself
Le to itself, the mind goes on repeating the same old habitual patterns of personality. By training the mind, however, anyone can learn to step in and change old ways of thinking; that is the central principle of yoga
Reshape yourself through the power of your will; never let yourself be degraded by self-will
In jnana yoga, the yoga of knowledge, aspirants use their will and discrimination to disidentify themselves from the body, mind, and senses until they know they are nothing but the Self
The followers of bhakti yoga, the yoga of devotion, achieve the same goal by identifying themselves completely with the Lord in love
In karma yoga, the yoga of sel ess action, the aspirants dissolve their identi cation with body and mind by identifying with the whole of life, forgetting the nite self in the service of others
And the followers of raja yoga, the yoga of meditation, discipline the mind and senses until the mind-process is suspended in a healing stillness and they merge in the Self
The yoking of all the powers of the body and the mind and soul to God; it means the discipline of the intellect, the mind, the emotions, the will, which such a yoking presupposes; it means a poise of the soul which enables one to look at life in all its aspects and evenly
We can become free by giving up not material things, but sel sh attachments to material things – and, more important, to people. It asks us to renounce not the enjoyment of life, but the clinging to sel sh enjoyment whatever it may cost others. It pleads, in a word, for the renunciation of sel shness in thought, word, and action
Desire is the fuel of life; without desire nothing can be achieved, let alone so stupendous a feat as Self-realization
The Buddha calls it tanha,' thirst': the erce, compulsive craving for personal satisfaction that demands to be slaked at any cost, whether to oneself or to others. us the concept also includes what Western mystics call self-will – the naked ego insisting on getting what it wants for its own grati cation. e Gita teaches simply that this sel sh craving is what makes a person feel separate from the rest of life. When it is extinguished – the literal meaning of nirvana – the mask of the transient, petty empirical ego falls, revealing our real Self
Work hard in the world without any sel sh attachment, the Gita counsels, and you will purify your consciousness of self-will
Work can bene t others and still carry a substantial measure of ego involvement. Such work is good, but it is not yoga. It may bene t others, but it will not necessarily bene t the doer. Everything depends on the state of mind. Action without sel sh motive puri es the mind: the doer is less likely to be ego-driven later. The same action done with a sel sh motive entangles a person further, precisely by strengthening that motive so it is more likely to prompt sel sh action again
You have the right to work, but never to the fruit of work. You should never engage in action for the sake of reward, nor should you long for inaction. Perform work in this world, Arjuna, as a man established within himself – without sel sh attachments, and alike in success and defeat. For yoga is perfect evenness of mind
Give your best to every undertaking without insisting that the results work out the way you want, or even whether what you do is pleasant or unpleasant. 'You have the right to action, but not to the fruits of action': each of us has the obligation to act rightly, but no power to dictate what is to come of what we do
By detachment I mean that you must not worry whether the desired result follows from your action or not, so long as your motive is pure, your means correct. Really, it means that things will come right in the end if you take care of the means and leave the rest to Him
But renunciation of fruit, in no way means indi erence to the result. In regard to every action one must know the result that is expected to follow, the means thereto, and the capacity for it. He who, being thus equipped, is without desire for the result and is yet wholly engrossed in the due ful llment of the task before him, is said to have renounced the fruits of his action
Renounce and enjoy
Those who are compulsively attached to the results of action cannot really enjoy what they do; they get downcast when things do not work out and cling more desperately when they do
Act entirely for His sake, not for any personal gain
The whole point of the path of love is to transform motivation from 'I, I, I' to 'thou, thou, thou' – that is, to surrender sel sh attachments by dissolving them in the desire to give
Do it, that is, not for personal reward but out of love for the Lord, present in every creature
'Actionless action': of persons so established in identi cation with the Self that in the midst of tireless service of those around them, they remain in inner peace, the still witness of action. ey do not act, the Gita says; it is the Self that acts through them
To live without the daily sacri ce (yajna) of sel ess service – to work just for oneself, or worse, to do nothing at all – is simply to be a thief
It is not possible to do nothing, Krishna says; the very nature of the mind is incessant activity. e Gita's goal is to harness this activity in sel ess service, removing the poisonous agency of the ego: 'As long as one has a body, one cannot renounce action altogether. True renunciation is giving up all desire for personal reward
Selfless work puri es consciousness because when there is no trace of ego involvement, new karma is not produced; the mind is simply working out the karma it has already accumulated
The surest sign is that they have banished all sel sh desires. eir senses and mind are completely trained, so they are free from sensory cravings and self-will. Identified completely with the Self, not with body or mind, they realize their immortality here on earth
Those 'who see themselves in all and all in them' would simply not be capable of harming others
'Love, then do as you like': nothing will come out of you but goodness
Since the Self is the core of every personality, no one needs to acquire goodness or compassion; they are already there. All that is necessary is to remove the sel sh habits that hide them
The looks to the Self for everything and needs nothing from life but the opportunity to give. In brief, such a person knows who he is, and in that knowing is everything
God has yoked all human passions to the overriding desire to give and love and serve; and in that uni cation we can see, not the extinction of personality, but its full blossoming. is is what it means to be fully human; our ordinary lives of stimulus and response, getting and spending, seem by comparison as faint as remembered dreams. is owering of the spirit appeals, I think, to everyone. ' is is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; . . . the being a force of Nature instead of a feverish sel sh little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy
Shraddha = faith. 'that which is placed in the heart': all the beliefs we hold so deeply that we never think to question them. It is the set of values, axioms, prejudices, and prepossessions that colors our perceptions, governs our thinking, dictates our responses, and shapes our lives, generally without our even being aware of its presence and power
A person is what his shraddha is
As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he
One person with a serious illness believes he has a contribution to make to the world and so he recovers; another believes his life is worthless and he dies: that is the power of shraddha
Similarly, self-image is part of shraddha. One person believes she will succeed in life and overcomes great obstacles; another, who believes she can do nothing, may be more gi ed and face fewer di culties but accomplish very little
Is is our world. Our lives are an eloquent expression of our belief: what we deem worth having, doing, attaining, being. What we strive for shows what we value; we back our shraddha with our time, our energy, our very lives
All that we are is the result of what we have thought. We are made of our thoughts; we are molded by our thoughts.' As we think, so we become. is is true not only of individuals but of societies, institutions, and civilizations, according to the dominant ideas that shape their actions. Faith in technology, for example, is part of the shraddha of modern civilization
Right shraddha,' according to the Gita, is faith in spiritual laws: in the unity of life, the presence of divinity in every person, the essentially spiritual nature of the human being. 'Wrong shraddha' is not necessarily morally wrong, merely ignorant. It means believing that there is no more to life than physical existence, that the human being is only a biochemical entity, that happiness can be got by pursuing private interests and ignoring the rest of life. Such beliefs are misplaced
The whole purpose of every experience, every activity, every faculty, is to turn the human being inward and lead each of us back to our divine source
We shape ourselves and our world by what we believe and think and act on, whether for good or for ill
END OF INTRODUCTION
Actions do not cling to me because I am not attached to their results
Act wisely, with detachment
Sri Krishna is Bhagavan, 'the Lord,'
Immortal nature: his real Self, the Atman, never dies, for it is never born; it is eternal
The immortal soul is more important than the passing world
'Yoga is evenness of mind': detachment from the dualities of pain and pleasure, success and failure. erefore 'yoga is skill in action,' because this kind of detachment is required if one is to act in freedom, rather than merely react to events compelled by conditioning
Judgment will be better and his vision clear if he is not emotionally entangled in the outcome of what he does
Those who are established in wisdom (sthita-prajna) live in continuous, unbroken awareness that they are not the perishable body but the Atman. Further, they see the same Self in everyone, for the Atman is universally present in all
Such a one, Krishna says, does not identify with personal desires. ese desires are on the surface of personality, and the Self is its very core. e Self-realized man or woman is not motivated by personal desires – in other words, by any desire for kama, personal satisfaction
Krama refers to any grati cation of the ego or the senses that entangles us in the world of samsara, and thus draws us away from the core of our being, the Self
Those established in Self-realization control their senses instead of letting their senses control them. If the senses are not controlled, Krishna warns, the mind (or emotions) will follow wherever they lead. Eventually a person following the senses loses strength of will and unity of purpose; his choices are dictated by his desires. When the will is led astray by the desire for pleasure, the mind becomes confused and scattered. Ultimately, Krishna warns, this leads to spiritual destruction
When you keep thinking about sense objects, attachment comes. Attachment breeds desire, the lust of possession that burns to anger. Anger clouds the judgment; you can no longer learn from past mistakes. Lost is the power to choose between what is wise and what is unwise, and your life is utter waste
It is not enough to master all sel sh desires; it is also necessary to subdue possessiveness and egocentricity
When the senses contact sense objects, a person experiences cold or heat, pleasure or pain. ese experiences are eeting; they come and go. Bear them patiently. ose who are una ected by these changes, who are the same in pleasure and pain, are truly wise and t for immortality. Assert your strength and realize this!
The impermanent has no reality; reality lies in the eternal
You were never born; you will never die. You have never changed; you can never change
The Self of all beings, living within the body, is eternal and cannot be harmed. erefore, do not grieve.
For a warrior, nothing is higher than a war against evil
Death means the attainment of heaven; victory means the enjoyment of the earth
You have the right to work, but never to the fruit of work. You should never engage in action for the sake of reward, nor should you long for inaction. 48Perform work in this world, Arjuna, as a man established within himself – without sel sh attachments, and alike in success and defeat. For yoga is perfect evenness of mind
Those who are motivated only by desire for the fruits of action are miserable, for they are constantly anxious about the results of what they do
They live in wisdom who see themselves in all and all in them, who have renounced every sel sh desire and sense craving tormenting the heart. Neither agitated by grief nor hankering a er pleasure, they live free from lust and fear and anger. Established in meditation, they are truly wise. Fettered no more by sel sh attachments, they are neither elated by good fortune nor depressed by bad. Such are the seers. the wise can draw in their senses at will.
But when you move amidst the world of sense, free from attachment and aversion alike, 65there comes the peace in which all sorrows end, and you live in the wisdom of the Self.
The disunited mind is far from wise; how can it meditate? How be at peace? When you know no peace, how can you know joy? When you let your mind follow the call of the senses, they carry away your better judgment as storms drive a boat o its charted course on the sea.
Use all your power to free the senses from attachment and aversion alike, and live in the full wisdom of the Self. 69Such a sage awakes to light in the night of all creatures. at which the world calls day is the night of ignorance to the wise.
As rivers ow into the ocean but cannot make the vast ocean over ow, so ow the streams of the sense-world into the sea of peace that is the sage. But this is not so with the desirer of desires.
You must act sel essly, out of a sense of duty
You must work not for his own sake, but for the welfare of all
Each being must do its part in the grand scheme of things, and there is no way to avoid this obligation
Every action leads to a reasonable result – and, consequently, that everything that happens can be traced to something done in the past. Actions determine destiny: this is the basic idea of karma
If anything happens to us that is truly good, we must have done something in the past to deserve it; if something ill befalls us, then at some time in the past we did something that was not so meritorious. is is a basic moral law that all great spiritual traditions share: the belief that we reap what we sow
The way out of this maze of cause and e ect. It is not to avoid work, especially the duties required by his station in life, but to perform those duties without sel sh attachment to their 'fruit,' or outcome
The world is bound in its own activity, for all creatures except the illumined man or woman work for their own pleasure and gain. Because they act sel shly, they are bound by the results, whether good or bad. We must act in a sel ess spirit, Krishna says, without ego-involvement and without getting entangled in whether things work out the way we want; only then will we not fall into the terrible net of karma. We cannot hope to escape karma by refraining from our duties: even to survive in the world, we must act
Anger and sel sh desire are our greatest enemies. ey are the destructive powers that can compel us to wander away from our purpose, to end up in self-delusion and despair
Gunas: sattva– goodness, light, purity; rajas– passion, activity, energy; and tamas– darkness, ignorance, inertia
Spiritual evolution progresses from tamas to rajas to sattva, and nal liberation takes the soul beyond the three gunas altogether
Beware the pitfalls of rajas, for it is from rajas that anger and sel sh desire arise. Arjuna must realize that his true nature, the Atman, is above entanglement in the gunas. e gunas act and react upon one another, but Arjuna's inner being is not a ected. If he cannot reach this detachment, he will be always caught in the emotional storms of passion (rajas) or the quagmires of inertia (tamas) which alternate in dominating the mind and body
One who shirks action does not attain freedom; no one can gain perfection by abstaining from work
Ful ll all your duties; action is better than inaction. Even to maintain your body
Sel sh action imprisons the world. Act sel essly, without any thought of personal pro t
Rough sel ess service, you will always be fruitful and nd the ful llment of your desires': this is the promise of the Creator
Honor and cherish the devas as they honor and cherish you; through this honor and love you will attain the supreme good. 12All human desires are ful lled by the devas, who are pleased by sel ess service. But anyone who enjoys the things given by the devas without o ering sel ess acts in return is a thief
The spiritually minded, who eat in the spirit of service, are freed from all their sins; but the sel sh, who prepare food for their own satisfaction, eat sin
Indulging the senses for their own pleasure and ignoring the needs of others is a wasted life
Those who realize the Self are always satis ed. Having found the source of joy and ful llment, they no longer seek happiness from the external world
Strive constantly to serve the welfare of the world; by devotion to sel ess work one attains the supreme goal of life. 20Do your work with the welfare of others always in mind
What the outstanding person does, others will try to do. e standards such people create will be followed by the whole world
I continue to act, but I am not driven by any need of my own. 23If I ever refrained from continuous work, everyone would immediately follow my example. 24If I stopped working I would be the cause of cosmic chaos, and nally of the destruction of this world and these people
The ignorant work for their own pro t, Arjuna; the wise work for the welfare of the world, without thought for themselves. 26By abstaining from work you will confuse the ignorant, who are engrossed in their actions. Perform all work carefully, guided by compassion
The senses have been conditioned by attraction to the pleasant and aversion to the unpleasant. Do not be ruled by them; they are obstacles in your path
It is better to strive in one's own dharma than to succeed in the dharma of another. Nothing is ever lost in following one's own dharma, but competition in another's dharma breeds fear and insecurity
The senses are higher than the body, the mind higher than the senses; above the mind is the intellect, and above the intellect is the Atman. 43 us, knowing that which is supreme, let the Atman rule the ego. Use your mighty arms to slay the erce enemy that is sel sh desire
The wise never act with sel sh attachment to the fruit of their labor; they give their best in fortune and misfortune alike. Such people act in freedom
Yajna is a basic action, necessary to life, and those who do not perform some kind of sel ess service nd no home in this world or the next
Wisdom is the goal of sel ess action: knowing is the fruit of doing
My true being is unborn and changeless. I am the Lord who dwells in every creature. rough the power of my own maya, I manifest myself in a nite form
Those who know me as their own divine Self break through the belief that they are the body and are not reborn as separate creatures. Such a one, Arjuna, is united with me
I myself am changeless and beyond all action. 14Actions do not cling to me because I am not attached to their results. ose who understand this and practice it live in freedom
The awakened sages call a person wise when all his undertakings are free from anxiety about results; all his sel sh desires have been consumed in the re of knowledge. 20 e wise, ever satis ed, have abandoned all external supports. eir security is una ected by the results of their action; even while acting, they really do nothing at all. 21Free from expectations and from all sense of possession, with mind and body rmly controlled by the Self, they do not incur sin by the performance of physical action
They live in freedom who have gone beyond the dualities of life. Competing with no one, they are alike in success and failure and content with whatever comes to them. 23 ey are free, without sel sh attachments; their minds are xed in knowledge. ey perform all work in the spirit of service, and their karma is dissolved
True sustenance is in service, and through it a man or woman reaches the eternal Brahman. But those who do not seek to serve are without a home in this world
The o ering of wisdom is better than any material o ering, Arjuna; for the goal of all work is spiritual wisdom
Those who take wisdom as their highest goal, whose faith is deep and whose senses are trained, attain wisdom quickly and enter into perfect peace. 40But the ignorant, indecisive and lacking in faith, waste their lives. ey can never be happy in this world or any other. 41 ose established in the Self have renounced sel sh attachments to their actions and cut through doubts with spiritual wisdom. ey act in freedom
The true goal of action is knowledge of the Self
It is essential in karma yoga that the sel sh ego not expect grati cation from the work. When there is no sel sh involvement in work, the worker does not come to spiritual harm
Both renunciation of action and the sel ess performance of action lead to the supreme goal. But the path of action is better than renunciation.
Those who follow the path of service, who have completely puri ed themselves and conquered their senses and self-will, see the Self in all creatures and are untouched by any action they perform
Those who surrender to Brahman all sel sh attachments are like the leaf of a lotus oating clean and dry in water. Sin cannot touch them. 11Renouncing their sel sh attachments, those who follow the path of service work with body, senses, and mind for the sake of self-puri cation
Those whose consciousness is uni ed abandon all attachment to the results of action and attain supreme peace. But those whose desires are fragmented, who are sel shly attached to the results of their work, are bound in everything they do
Those who renounce attachment in all their deeds live content in the 'city of nine gates,' the body, as its master. ey are not driven to act, nor do they involve others in action
Neither the sense of acting, nor actions, nor the connection of cause and e ect comes from the Lord of this world. ese three arise from nature. 15 e Lord does not partake in the good and evil deeds of any person; judgment is clouded when wisdom is obscured by ignorance. 16But ignorance is destroyed by knowledge of the Self within. The light of this knowledge shines like the sun, revealing the supreme Brahman.
Those who possess this wisdom have equal regard for all. ey see the same Self in a spiritual aspirant and an outcaste, in an elephant, a cow, and a dog. 19Such people have mastered life. With even mind they rest in Brahman, who is perfect and is everywhere the same. 20 ey are not elated by good fortune nor depressed by bad. With mind established in Brahman, they are free from delusion. 21Not dependent on any external support, they realize the joy of spiritual awareness. With consciousness uni ed through meditation, they live in abiding joy
Yogi: a person who does his or her job with detachment from the rewards
Pleasures conceived in the world of the senses have a beginning and an end and give birth to misery, Arjuna. e wise do not look for happiness in them. 23But those who overcome the impulses of lust and anger which arise in the body are made whole and live in joy. 24 ey nd their joy, their rest, and their light completely within themselves. United with the Lord, they attain nirvana in Brahman
The wise master their senses, mind, and intellect through meditation. Selfrealization is their only goal. Freed from sel sh desire, fear, and anger, they live in freedom always. 29Knowing me as the friend of all creatures, the Lord of the universe, the end of all o erings and all spiritual disciplines, they attain eternal peace
Yoga means wholeness or the process of becoming whole at the deepest spiritual level
Meditation is the direct means of becoming integrated, united with one's truest, deepest Self. us a yogi, among other things, is a person who is an adept at meditation
One's self is thus one's friend or one's own enemy. e 'lower self ' is self-will – will in the negative, sel sh sense. But those who 'have conquered themselves by themselves' have their truest friend in the Self. Only those who have genuine self-discipline, who are 'self-conquered,' live in peace
Meditation is an internal discipline to make the mind one-pointed, absolutely concentrated
Hold the body, head, and neck in a straight line
Sitting absolutely straight, with the spinal column erect, prevents drowsiness. Also, in advanced stages of meditation, it allows for the free ow of vital energy
Comparing the mind to a steady ame. By its very nature the untrained mind is restless, constantly wandering here and there trying to ful ll its desires. It ickers wildly like a ame in a storm – never blown completely out, yet at the mercy of the wind. Wherever the mind wanders, Krishna says, it must be brought back to its source; it must learn to rest in the Self. Once it is at home in the depths of contemplation, the mind becomes steady, like an upright, un ickering ame in a windless place. In this deep meditation, and only there, can the human being nd true ful llment. en 'the still mind touches Brahman and enjoys bliss.'
The mind is terribly hard to train, but it can be done through regular practice if one has detachment
Through hard work and detachment from private, personal motives
No attempt to improve his spiritual condition could be a wasted e ort. Even looking ahead to the next life, he has nothing to lose and everything to gain. He will be reborn in a household suitable for taking up his quest where he le o . In his next life, he will feel drawn to the spiritual goal once again, and he will have a head start.
It is not those who lack energy or refrain from action, but those who work without expectation of reward who attain the goal of meditation. eirs is true renunciation
Renunciation and the performance of sel ess service are the same. ose who cannot renounce attachment to the results of their work are far from the path
For aspirants who want to climb the mountain of spiritual awareness, the path is sel ess work; for those who have ascended to yoga the path is stillness and peace. 4When you have freed yourself from attachment to the results of work, and from desires for the enjoyment of sense objects, you will ascend to the unitive state
Strive to still your thoughts. Make your mind one-pointed in meditation, and your heart will be puri ed. 13Hold your body, head, and neck rmly in a straight line, and keep your eyes from wandering. 14With all fears dissolved in the peace of the Self and all actions dedicated to Brahman, controlling the mind and xing it on me, sit in meditation with me as your only goal. 15With senses and mind constantly controlled through meditation, united with the Self within, an aspirant attains nirvana, the state of abiding joy and peace in me
Those who eat too much or eat too little, who sleep too much or sleep too little, will not succeed in meditation. 17But those who are temperate in eating and sleeping, work and recreation, will come to the end of sorrow through meditation. 18 rough constant e ort they learn to withdraw the mind from sel sh cravings and absorb it in the Self. us they attain the state of union
When meditation is mastered, the mind is unwavering like the ame of a lamp in a windless place
The practice of meditation frees one from all a iction. is is the path of yoga. Follow it with determination and sustained enthusiasm. 24Renouncing wholeheartedly all sel sh desires and expectations, use your will to control the senses. 25Little by little, through patience and repeated e ort, the mind will become stilled in the Self
Wherever the mind wanders, restless and di use in its search for satisfaction without, lead it within; train it to rest in the Self 27Abiding joy comes to those who still the mind. Freeing themselves from the taint of self-will, with their consciousness uni ed, they become one with Brahman
The in nite joy of touching Brahman is easily attained by those who are free from the burden of evil and established within themselves. 29 ey see the Self in every creature and all creation in the Self. With consciousness uni ed through meditation, they see everything with an equal eye
It is true that the mind is restless and di cult to control. But it can be conquered, Arjuna, through regular practice and detachment. 36 ose who lack self-control will nd it di cult to progress in meditation; but those who are self-controlled, striving earnestly through the right means, will attain the goal
No one who does good work will ever come to a bad end, either here or in the world to come
Meditation is superior to severe asceticism and the path of knowledge. It is also superior to sel ess service
Depend on me completely. Listen, and I will dispel all your doubts; you will come to know me fully and be united with me
Maya was the magical capacity to create form and illusion
These next few are Krishna talking about how he is the lord and if we are all the lord then what he says is what we all should be telling ourselves
One person in many thousands may seek perfection, yet of these only a few reach the goal and come to realize me
The birth and dissolution of the cosmos itself take place in me. 7 ere is nothing that exists separate from me
I am the taste of pure water and the radiance of the sun and moon. I am the sacred word and the sound heard in air, and the courage of human beings. 9I am the sweet fragrance in the earth and the radiance of re; I am the life in every creature and the striving of the spiritual aspirant
In those who are strong, I am strength, free from passion and sel sh attachment. I am desire itself, if that desire is in harmony with the purpose of life
My action is creation and the bringing forth of creatures
When you make your mind onepointed through regular practice of meditation, you will nd the supreme glory of the Lord
The Lord is the supreme poet, the rst cause, the sovereign ruler, subtler than the tiniest particle, the support of all, inconceivable, bright as the sun, beyond darkness
The immature do not look beyond physical appearances to see my true nature as the Lord of all creation. 12 e knowledge of such deluded people is empty; their lives are fraught with disaster and evil, and their work and hopes are all in vain
I am the goal of life, the Lord and support of all, the inner witness, the abode of all. I am the only refuge, the one true friend; I am the beginning, the staying, and the end of creation; I am the womb and the eternal seed
Those who worship me and meditate on me constantly, without any other thought – I will provide for all their needs
I look upon all creatures equally; none are less dear to me and none more dear. But those who worship me with love live in me, and I come to life in them
No one who is devoted to me will ever come to harm
Your power is immeasurable. You pervade everything; you are everything
Better indeed is knowledge than mechanical practice. Better than knowledge is meditation. But better still is surrender of attachment to results, because there follows immediate peace.
At one is dear to me who runs not a er the pleasant or away from the painful, grieves not, lusts not, but lets things come and go as they happen.
At devotee who looks upon friend and foe with equal regard, who is not buoyed up by praise nor cast down by blame, alike in heat and cold, pleasure and pain, free from sel sh attachments, 19the same in honor and dishonor, quiet, ever full, in harmony everywhere, rm in faith – such a one is dear to me
Free from sel sh attachment, they do not get compulsively entangled even in home and family. ey are even-minded through good fortune and bad. 10 eir devotion to me is undivided. Enjoying solitude and not following the crowd, they seek only me. 11 is is true knowledge, to seek the Self as the true end of wisdom always. To seek anything else is ignorance
Be fearless and pure; never waver in your determination or your dedication to the spiritual life. Give freely. Be self-controlled, sincere, truthful, loving, and full of the desire to serve. Realize the truth of the scriptures; learn to be detached and to take joy in renunciation. 2Do not get angry or harm any living creature, but be compassionate and gentle; show good will to all. 3Cultivate vigor, patience, will, purity; avoid malice and pride. en, Arjuna, you will achieve your divine destiny
The three kinds of faith express themselves in the habits of those who hold them: in the food they like, the work they do, the disciplines they practice, the gi s they give
Sattvic people enjoy food that is mild, tasty, substantial, agreeable, and nourishing, food that promotes health, strength, cheerfulness, and longevity.
The sattvic perform sacri ces with their entire mind xed on the purpose of the sacri ce. Without thought of reward, they follow the teachings of the scriptures.
To o er service to the gods, to the good, to the wise, and to your spiritual teacher; purity, honesty, continence, and nonviolence: these are the disciplines of the body. 15To o er soothing words, to speak truly, kindly, and helpfully, and to study the scriptures: these are the disciplines of speech. 16Calmness, gentleness, silence, self-restraint, and purity: these are the disciplines of the mind.
When these three levels of self-discipline are practiced without attachment to the results, but in a spirit of great faith, the sages call this practice sattvic
Giving simply because it is right to give, without thought of return, at a proper time, in proper circumstances, and to a worthy person, is sattvic giving.
To refrain from sel sh acts is one kind of renunciation, called sannyasa; to renounce the fruit of action is another, called tyaga
Among the wise, some say that all action should be renounced as evil. Others say that certain kinds of action – self-sacri ce, giving, and self-discipline – should be continued
Self-sacri ce, giving, and self-discipline should not be renounced, for they purify the thoughtful. Yet even these, Arjuna, should be performed without desire for sel sh rewards. is is essential
To ful ll your responsibilities knowing that they are obligatory, while at the same time desiring nothing for yourself – this is sattvic renunciation. 10 ose endowed with sattva clearly understand the meaning of renunciation and do not waver. ey are not intimidated by unpleasant work, nor do they seek a job because it is pleasant
As long as one has a body, one cannot renounce action altogether. True renunciation is giving up all desire for personal reward. 12 ose who are attached to personal reward will reap the consequences of their actions: some pleasant, some unpleasant, some mixed. But those who renounce every desire for personal reward go beyond the reach of karma
Sattvic knowledge sees the one indestructible Being in all beings, the unity underlying the multiplicity of creation
Work performed to ful ll one's obligations, without thought of personal reward or of whether the job is pleasant or unpleasant, is sattvic
30To know when to act and when to refrain from action, what is right action and what is wrong, what brings security and what insecurity, what brings freedom and what bondage: these are the signs of a sattvic intellect
By sustained e ort, one comes to the end of sorrow. 37 at which seems like poison at rst, but tastes like nectar in the end – this is the joy of sattva, born of a mind at peace with itself
Sattvic workers are free from egotism and sel sh attachments, full of enthusiasm and fortitude in success and failure alike
Unerring in discrimination, sovereign of the senses and passions, free from the clamor of likes and dislikes, 52such a one leads a simple, self-reliant life based on meditation, controlling speech, body, and mind
Free from self-will, aggressiveness, arrogance, anger, and the lust to possess people or things, they are at peace with themselves and others and enter into the unitive state
United with Brahman, ever joyful, beyond the reach of desire and sorrow, they have equal regard for every living creature and attain supreme devotion to me. 55By loving me they come to know me truly; then they know my glory and enter into my boundless being. 56All their acts are performed in my service, and through my grace they win eternal life
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