INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GITA DHYAN SADHANA JULY-SEPT 2011

A Quarterly Publication

Volume One Issue One

International Journal

July – September 2011

A quarterly publication An International Journal Of GITA DHYAN SADHANA Mystical Insights into Bhagavad Gita Š

An International Journal of GITA DHYAN SADHANA and

Taoshobuddha Meditations All rights are reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission of the original publisher TAOSHOBUDDHA MEDITATIONS TM and TAOSHOBUDDHA. Printed and Published by:

TAOSHOBUDDHA MEDITATIONS

Cover design and graphics:

Anand Neelambar

CHIEF EDITOR:

SWAMI ANAND NEELAMBAR, TRINIDAD

ASSISTANT EDITOR:

LARS JENSEN, STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN

ADVISORY EDITORS:

TAOSHOBUDDHA

Editorial Staff: Trinidad - Taoshobuddha Pt Gajendra Kumar - Spiritual Head Sri Lakshmi Narayan Mandir, Trinidad India -

Anil Sohoni, Sadhak Sri Chinmaya Mission Hemant Moghe, Mumbai, India Page | i

Quarterly International Journal – Gita Dhyan Sadhana Sweden - Lars Jensen, Stockholm, Sweden Australia - Rahul Vedi, Canberra, Australia USA -

Pt Mahendra Nath Maharaj, Hollywood, Florida

JGDS EDITORIAL OFFICE: 66 College Street, St Augustine, Trinidad W.I. Phone:

1-954-381-1227

1-868-683-8587

Skype.Com:

Taoshobuddha1

Website:

http://dhyan-samadhi.webs.com/ www.https//youtube.com/taoshobuddha9 www.https//scribd.com/taoshobuddhacyberlibrary www.https//issuu.com/taoshobuddhalibrary

Email for contributions and other matters: mailtaoshobuddha@gmail.com mailtaoshobuddha@yahoo.com avatar411@gmail.com jensen@gmx.at

INDEMNITY CLAUSE The Editorial Board is not responsible for the contents of the individual writers.

A production of

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Quarterly International Journal – Gita Dhyan Sadhana

Contents Title

Page

Message from the Chief Editor Word from Taoshobuddha Message from Pundit Mahendranath Maharaj Why Gita Dhyan Sadhana – Hemant Moghe Bhagavad Gita from a Hindu perspective Gita – as seen by a western mind – Lars Jensen Gita- an overview – Anil Sohani Who am I – Anil Sohani How to begin Gita Dhyan Sadhana - Taoshobuddha One Cosmic Being – Taoshobuddha Dawn of New Horizons – Taoshobuddha Gita – Transmission beyond Words – Taoshobuddha Introduction Gita Dhyan Sadhana – Taoshobuddha Krishna the Incarnation – Taoshobuddha Krishna the experiment in consciousness Dhritarashtra the negation of truth The Path Of Yoga – Taoshobuddha Gita – Chapter One – Taoshobuddha Mind and the Modern Man – Taoshobuddha Gita as you have known – Taoshobuddha Gita – Mystical Insights – Swami Anand Neelambar New releases of Taoshobuddha How to contact us

iv v vi vii 1 4 16 23 31 33 33 35 37 41 44 47 51 59 68 70 79 84 96

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MESSAGE from the Chief Editor Beloved friends, The epic poem Bhagavad Gita is truly a marvellous mystery. Can you try to imagine in the midst of the impending war, this lengthy properly pronounced melodious song being delivered? Who actually talks in poetry? For me the verses were later composed after the fact. For example you speak to me now in normal language; then I take the contents of your thought and make a poem of it for easy memory and oral transmission. This is what Veda Vyasa - the composer of the poems did. When you begin to understand that then you are half way home. The other half is not to be caught up in the words, verses, but to imbibe the spirit of the words. The clothes are not important. The wearer is important. The container is not important; the content is more important.

I encourage you to keep on writing and to leave the formatting to me. The presentation of the Gita Dhyan Sadhana looks like a Spiritual Oasis indeed. I do not care for large readership; only the sincere seekers will find their way here. And that is more than enough.

Have you ever considered that thoughts do not need visa to travel? And not only on this terrestrial planet but between other realms as well. The government can make visa difficult to get but they cannot limit the free movements of thoughts.

This Gita Dhyana Sadhana transcends the Spacio-Time Barriers. We have crossed national borders, galactic borders and time borders. The same situation where Arjuna was...we are seeing as clear as day light.

And from that dimension we are re-writing the text and presenting in a new jargon.

For those of you who are confused or overly concerned, we are not doing a commentary on Bhagavad Gita. We are giving insights and meditations on Gita. And for now we are mainly dealing with the Bhagavad Gita. But we shall soon go into other Gita - example Rama Gita, Avadhuta Gita and so on. Our intention is not commentary as there as many many commentaries, but no insights and meditations on Gita since its inception more than five thousand years ago. This is a radical revolution in approaching the Gita. And for this the aspiring humanity shall ere long turn to these insights for guidance and solace.

SWAMI ANAND NEELAMBAR CHIEF EDITOR INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GITA DHYAN SADHNA AND TAOSHOBUDDHA MEDITATIONS Page | iv

Quarterly International Journal – Gita Dhyan Sadhana

Krishna charit sunat je aaghahee ras vishesh tin jaanaa naahi Ras raaj Krishna sang preet lagee mor hridaya ati anand bhayu Those who get fed up listening to the portrayal of Krishna Indeed they have missed the essence of love mystical As love bond is established with Krishna My heart indeed knows no limit of bliss as it overflows Beloved friends I am indeed happy that the inaugural issue of INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GITA DHYANA SADHNA is in your hands. Through this journal we bring the mystical insights into Gita and in particular the Bhagavad Gita.

This journal is the overflow of love that is sanctified with the essence of Krishna is now overflowing towards you. Allow this to overwhelm you. Indeed life will transform.

Through this, we, the contributors, are chanting the glories of Krishna for our own pleasure and invite you to participate in this solemn celebration.

Om Krishnayah Namah‌.

Taoshobuddha

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Quarterly International Journal – Gita Dhyan Sadhana

Pt. Mahendranath Maharaj

EDITOR-JOURNAL OF GITA DHAYAN SADHANA Resident Pundit, Shiva Temple, Ft Lauderdale, Florida Pundit’s View on Shri Bhagavad Gita Om Namo Bhagavadtaye Vasudavaya The Bhagavad Gita contains the great Divine words emanating from the lips of Bhagavan Shri Krishna himself. None can possibly describe its greatness nor can anyone depict in words its glory and its supreme spiritual mystery and secrets.

However in modern times in present day (2011) the Bhagavad Gita is widely misinterpreted and misappropriated spiritual text. Very few read and study its unlimited glories. More so very few do so with great deep reflection, devotion and reverence.

There are those who undertake the misconception that the Gita is useful only for the hermits and recluses and of no use to householders. Failing to realize the ultimate fruit of all forms of worship is one and the same. This is where the greatest misconception exists no matter whether God is worshipped in terms of identity or various diversities the results of lasting peace attainment of the eternal, imperishable abode remains the same.

On this great and noble endeavor of the Launching of The International Journal of Gita Dhyan Sadhana my greatest blessing and admiration goes to the persons who have the inspiration and vision to attempt such a wonderful and God given opportunity, to lead the way for many of us.

Not only for us alive but for many generations to come such insights and work will continue to guide along the path like beacon light.

I am indeed blessed to be part of this endeavor. And as one of the editors I appeal to all the seekers and each and every one to download a copy of The International Journal of Gita Dhyan Sadhana as in times to come, it will be a great treasure.

May Bhagavan Krishna bless each and every one as they lovingly and diligently embark on the Journey of Gita Dhayan Sadhana.

May peace, shanti be with all!

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Quarterly International Journal – Gita Dhyan Sadhana

by Hemant Moghe, Mumbai, India

The Bhagavad Gita is essentially meant for meditation. Its essence lies in the unheard and unspoken message. This can only be realized deep within in meditative sojourn. For the contemplation and the meditation one can also chose the verses that describe the Quality of Absolute such as Omnipresence, Omnipotence or Omniscience or on those qualities he desires to embrace as a part of his personality such as courage, compassion and so on.

S

rimad Bhagavad Gita comprising of 700 verses in 18 chapters forms a part of epic Mahabharata compiled by Maharshi Ved Vyasa. It is also known as Gitopnishad because it is also considered as an independent text having the status of summary of teachings of Upanishads.

It is not merely a text attributed to Religion alone but it is also Philosophical Doctrine. In Sanskrit the word for Philosophy is tatvajnAna, (tatva - satya (TRUTH) and jnAna – supreme knowledge which comes out of experience.

As an individual we are living in a scientific age. This is the age of dynamism where everything is moving at a tremendous speed. All progress and growth is measured in terms of material accumulations. On one hand these give much comfort and yet the mental serenity, peace and joy are way beyond. Sometimes even men with extra–ordinary intelligence, strength and power and having all material abundance are faced with situations that baffle them leading to sorrow and pain. It is beyond their understanding as to know why and how. When such a baffled mental state affects not only him but others also it requires the attention and care of an able psychologist and the treatment is restricted to that individual alone. In the same manner when the society at large is under such a threat then the Realized Saints and Sages prescribe some treatment for the welfare of the society, and that is Philosophy. It is in this context, Bhagavad Gita is Philosophical Text.

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Ekam sad bahudha vipra vadanti The One Truth is illustrated by many ways. There are many commentaries, explanations and illustrations and viewpoints to explain the Bhagavad Gita and at times one gets confused and lost in the jungle of these view points and starts wondering as to what exactly Bhagavad Gita wants to convey and what is to be achieved by studying it.

The Ultimate Truth is only one but presented in many ways in Philosophy. By reading books what we gain is only intellectual idea of Truth but the Truth or God or Supreme Intelligence or Supreme consciousness or Nirvana or the Supreme State is beyond the realm of human intellect. One may read many books describing the taste of mango but he will know the exact taste only by direct experience which he gets after tasting it with his taste buds. Such is a case where one learns by direct experience with the use of sense organs. But if the Truth is beyond sense organs, beyond mind and beyond intellect, then how to gain awareness of TRUTH? There is an unending quest to acquire more and more. And in this, serenity of the inner being is replaced by the agitations of the mind with a constant pursuit to acquire more and more. We have forgotten our true nature and the purpose in life.

With an agitated mind one cannot lead a purposeful outer life or continue the inward journey. And also in pursuit to live an eternal life of serenity and joy the mind deceives and beclouds the manifestation of truth all the time.

Mind, therefore is the most important faculty both for inner and outer lives. Mind acts as a filter through which various impulses arise as an interaction between various sense organs and the outer world. These impulses of physical, mental, intellectual, and spiritual consciousness determine the behavioral patterns of life.

On the other hand soul is self-existent being with infinite force of consciousness and unconditional delight and effulgence. Consciousness too interacts and reflects but only through a tranquil mind. When this process becomes a continuum, we are at the threshold of a new life, a new beginning that will unfold into an infinite realm of bliss, contentment and serenity beyond all boundaries of finiteness. But the mind has unlimited power of deception. Mind clothes its desires and preferences with all kinds of wonderful intentions and it hides its trickeries, resentments and disappointments under the most favorable appearances. In such a state the perception of Truth is distorted.

We must therefore travel on the path to see things in there right perspective and for this we need the courage or fearlessness of a warrior, an honesty of purpose, and sincerity in our pursuit.

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Quarterly International Journal – Gita Dhyan Sadhana In order to understand The Gita and the teachings we therefore need to follow the path to go beyond the realm of mind and intellect.

This is the path of Meditation. Meditation will lead us to silence where AllPotentiality exists. The meditation will help us understand Gita better and better so that it becomes our direct experience and will bring about complete transformation.

The technique of meditation 1. Take few deep breaths and with each exhalation relax the body. Continue until the body is relaxed and tension from the body is gone.

2. Now focus the attention on the process of breathing. Do not interfere, just watch the process. Slowly the breath will be so smooth that it would be barely noticeable. This will further relax the body.

3. Now watch the mind or simply watch the thoughts. Be a silent observer. Do not encourage any particular thought also do not attempt to stop any thought. Just watch and do not interfere in the process. Slowly the mind will become less occupied with thoughts. Now both the body and the mind are relaxed.

4. It is at this stage begin the contemplation of TRUTH. Chant the verse many times until you are completely absorbed in it. Wait to see what ideas come spontaneously to you without any of your conscious thinking. Do not get disheartened if nothing is revealed. Slowly and surely something will come.

Wait and watch and have patience.

5. Slowly come out of the Meditation and write down the ideas that came to you. Whenever you find time think about this again and again so that it forms part of your understanding.

For the contemplation and the meditation one can also chose the verses that describe the Quality of Absolute such as Omnipresence, Omnipotence or Omniscience or on those qualities he desires to embrace as a part of his personality such as courage, compassion and so on.

Krishna in Bhagavad Gita is THE ABSOLUTE, the source of all generations, and He is called the most efficient cause of everything. Everything is born of HIM, He is the original source of all. Everything is under HIM; no one is above HIM. There is no supreme controller other than Krishna or THE ABSOLUTE.

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Quarterly International Journal – Gita Dhyan Sadhana Taoshobuddha is an enlightened master submerged in Krishna-Consciousness and his words flow from his inner being and communicate with the inner being of the listener bringing about the transformation.

Hemant Moghe, a former University lecturer in Statistics, Mumbai, India considers him a common man, yet very fortunate to have an association with illumined beings whose blessings have been the beacon light through his life.

After Post-Graduation he began self-studies of philosophy.

Revisited the study of Sanskrit for the grasp of philosophy!

It is the works of the illumined ones that attracted him the most. Inner pursuit drew closer ultimately to Sant Dnyaneshwar. Therein he discovered the essence of Love, Peace, Joy and beauty and Harmony.

This he shares through life living and works. Several of his videos and scores of documents are available on:

Hemant Moghe

www.https//youtube.com/taoshobuddha9 www.https//Scribd.com/Soham hamsah Hemant Moghe is the coauthor with Taoshobuddha on Haripath – The Hidden Splendor

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Sufi Lakshmi Sahai Saxena Born July 1st 1927 Resident: I 594, Alfa II Gautama Buddha Nagar, UP, India

(Father of Taoshobuddha)

F

or every Hindu, irrespective of where he is born, grew up and lives, The Bhagavad Gita remains one of the most revered Holy Scriptures. Whether one reads it, or recites its Sutras is not important. What is important is that from the very childhood Samskaras are created. And in the right environment these blossom into a Bodhi Tree to provide shelter to many weary seekers under its shadow of wisdom and awareness. Once the journey continues in the right direction one day it can become the inner search.

Ramcharit Manas of Tulsidas and Bhagavad Gita are considered as essential scriptures in every Hindu home. In schools and colleges certain excerpts of Ramcharit Manas are prescribed in curriculum of the Hindi Literature Syllabus.

However no such effort is made for Bhagavad Gita. The language being Sanskrit it is considered as difficult. So we were restricted to self-recital whether correct or incorrect we continue to chant the sutras. In the beginning during my times almost no commentary was available for common people. And the commentary of Page | 1

Quarterly International Journal – Gita Dhyan Sadhana Adi Shankar was not meant for common man. As a result Bhagavad Gita could not become as popular as Ramcharit Manas. Now the times have changed several commentaries are available in English and Hindi. All these commentaries only touch the surface meaning. Because of my interest from the early age along with Ramcharit Manas I used to chant the Sutras of Bhagavad Gita. However I did not understand the deeper meaning. Occasionally my master Naqshbandi Sufi Brij Mohan Lal RA will explain the scriptures during satsang congregations. That was my only deep understanding. However all along I felt there is deeper essence which was kept hidden from ordinary mind.

However Srimad Bhagavad Purana was not kept in the homes. There was a general belief and misconception that it was the cause of conflict and war within the family. Later I came to know this was misconception. Srimad Bhagavad Purana contains the entire life of Bhagavan Krishna. Still we respected it in spite of the fact it was not allowed at homes.

It is amazing that now there are so many Bhagavad Purana Yagnas. In our times there was only the recitation of Ramcharit Manas. It was done with great enthusiasm and gaiety. For 24 hours Ramcharit Manas will be recited with or without music and at the end of the period aarti, Prasad and some people will have the meals organized. Now almost every day one can hear of Bhagavad Purana Yajna or something else. With the advent of Astha TV Channel we can hear more of these.

Such was the life and the role of these scriptures for ordinary householders. There have been arrangements for the deeper study of these scriptures for Brahmans and those who went into deeper aspects or choose so.

This was the life when I was growing. There was no television, and radio was only available for elite. More so not many religious programs were on the air as we see and hear now.

Now in India we have one TV channel only dedicated to the religious and spiritual aspects. And various other channels broadcast the religious and spiritual programs on regular and occasional basis. Not only this, but with internet facility more and more such things are possible. The awareness for such works is increasing among the youths. Whereas the elderly person are happy about this as we are getting such opportunities during the sunset of our lives. Yet we cannot deny the other influences that are filtering into the main stream and causing chaos. We must

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Quarterly International Journal – Gita Dhyan Sadhana remember life is a blend of essential and non-essential. This has always been so even from the times of Sri Rama, and Sri Krishna. We hear many such stories.

I was glad when the editor Swami Anand Neelambar, whom I met during my visit to Trinidad, asked me to write for the opening issue of The International Journal Of Gita Dhyan Sadhana, I became very happy and the same happened when Taoshobuddha asked me to be the coauthor in Tasuwware Sheikh – Insights into the life and Works of Sufi Brij Mohan Lal. For this I shared all my experiences in the company of my master. These are the experiences and the moments that I will cherish in my being.

When I went through the copy of the Journal I was really amazed at the insights and depth of understanding of Taoshobuddha and Swami Anand Neelambar.

My joy knew no limits. I wish them long life so that they continue the work for the transformation of human consciousness that Taoshobuddha Meditations has undertaken to carry the flame of the masters till eternity lasts.

My hearts is overflowing with joy while eyes are sparkling with unshed tears but I am indeed happy to see the light of such a day that I had always wished to see from the early childhood.

On this occasion I send my best wishes and love for the management and editorial board and the entire readership. In conclusion I want only to say you are indeed lucky for such opportunities. I close with the sutras of Bhagavad Gita that I loved so much:

Love Sufi Lakshmi Sahai Page | 3

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Bhagavad Gita as seen by a western mind (By Lars Jensen, Stockholm, Sweden) [When it comes to spirituality there is no such division of East and the West.

Man in his eternal quest is same within. However because of his upbringings and cultural backgrounds perceptions differ. Lars Jensen is blossoming into a beautiful flower of awareness. He is as Eastern as Taoshobuddha is Western. Lars is the confluence of the East and the West. – Taoshobuddha]

A

s a western I was asked to put my understanding upon Bhagavad Gita, as if a Western had a different view of this great classic work of India.

West has turned its face to East People in west have been flowering in luxury for a quite long time. But still they have not found the happiness in this material wealth and luxury living.

The western people are now reedy to lift up their faces and look for something higher then material wealth in life. The west has reached a mature state. They have started to turn their face to the east to see the upcoming spiritual sun that is coming from the east.

The westerns are not interested in the ritual aspect of religions, as they have seen the hypocrites of the priest in the west. That‟s why no one in Sweden (and properly also very few in the whole Europe) are visiting the churches.

The west has seen through the religious aspect of rituals and is not satisfied with the material wealth either. So the western people are looking for the real spirituality aspect of life that makes a change within and not only as an outer show and hypocrite.

So the ritual aspect of Hinduism does not interest the westerner mind.

Instead they are interested in the inner transformation and practical aspect of Hinduism and the practical wisdom from the Bhagavad Gita that can transform their daily living.

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Bhagavad Gita explored to the West Generally Bhagavad Gita is only known to the West through the Hare Krishna movement, even so Madame Blavatsky (the founder of the Theosophical Society) and Paul Brunton already had written about its greatness and revealed its hidden treasures in the first place.

Therefore most westerners know Bhagavad Gita only through the singing and dancing of the Hare Krishna movement. Even so they are singing about Hare Krishna, the main source of their inspiration is not Lord Krishna, but instead a 15th century Bengali Bhakti saint Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu went about saying: „Hari Bol‟ (take the name of the Lord). Once he happened to pass by a pond where washer men were busy washing clothes. He asked one of them to say „Hari Bol‟, but the latter did not pay any heed, taking him to be a beggar. But when Chaitanya once again emphatically asked the washer man, the latter could not resist but repeat the words „Hari Bol‟ and at once started to dance in ecstasy with the refrain of the words.

Very soon other washer men nearby caught the rhythm of the charged words and the whole place began to ring with the merry chant „Hari Bol‟ in rhythmic unison. So the words of a Master-soul are highly charged on account of His personal contact with God within Him and have the ability to affect the listeners and help them in spiritual advancement.

So with these singing followers, of the Hare Krishna movement, the West started to know and understand the Bhagavad Gita. The westerner may have smiled when they saw the dancing and singing followers, but the mantra „Hare Krishna‟ was spread to their mind just like Chaitanya Mahaprabhu once spread the mantra „Hari Bol‟ to all the washer men nearly five hundred years ago.

Mahabharata and Ramayana – the Bible and Koran of India Bhagavad Gita is just a small part of a great epic named Mahabharata.

Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India, the other being the Ramayana of sage Valmiki. These two works are like the Bible of the West and the Koran of the Arabic world. Everybody knows these stories in India, even from the early childhood. The ordinary people have not much knowledge of the Vedas, Upanishads and other main Holy Scriptures of India, as this knowledge was then restricted to the priesthood.

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Quarterly International Journal – Gita Dhyan Sadhana On the contrary the stories of Mahabharata and Ramayana are the common people‟s stories. Therefore this is the real essence of Hinduism, as everybody has the knowledge of these stories and in this way are coloured by its beauty and lustre.

Lord Vishnu - the leading actor in these two plays In both these two Holy works the incarnations of Lord Vishnu is playing the main role, like a leading actor in a play. In Ramayana Lord Vishnu is incarnated as Lord Rama and his life and fight against the evil forces is described. In Bhagavad Gita Lord Vishnu has incarnated again as Lord Krishna and his very unique teaching is explored very beautifully in the middle of the battle field. So in both these two works Lord Vishnu has incarnated in human form and fight against the evil forces in the biggest wars ever known to human history. The main play field for both of these two works is the battle field thus revealing the fact that transcendence comes only through the realm of battle field and inner conflict, despondency and agony.

In Bhagavad Gita when Arjuna - one of the five Pandava brothers faces the enemy and the war is just about to start, at this very movement of awareness Lord Krishna gives his teaching to Arjuna. On one side of the battlefield stands the Pandava brother‟s armies and at the other side are the Kauravas brother‟s armies.

This is one of the greatest wars in history, only to be compared to the First and Second World War of modern times. Under these circumstances when both armies are facing destruction, something very beautifully is starting to rise up from this ugly battle field – the methodology of inner transformation.

Watch your words Watch your words – a harsh word already spoken, cannot be undone. Even so the Pandava brothers and the Kaurava brothers were closely related and friends from childhood, they were fighting against each other for the power of the kingdom.

One word alone ignited this terrifying war. The king Dhritarashtra, the father of the Kaurava brothers, was blind from birth. And someone said: “How can a man that is blind rule the kingdom?”

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Quarterly International Journal – Gita Dhyan Sadhana From this sentence alone anger rouse up in the heart of the king‟s sons and finally the war was its outcome. So words are very potent, and you should therefore very carefully select your words and only use sweet words, so that the outcome may also be sweet. Otherwise – who knows – perhaps your own harsh words spoken in the moment of anger will be the cause of the next World War, and that burden you would not like to have on your credit, I suppose. So be wise in selecting your language even in the moment of anger. A harsh word cannot be undone even by thousand sweet words. So think twice before you throw the dice. Once the arrow has left the bow, there is no return.

The hidden symbolic language of Bhagavad Gita From the viewpoint of a Western mind, I have to explore the hidden symbolic language of the story of Bhagavad Gita, just like Carl Gustav Jung would have done.

So accordingly the five Pandava brothers represent our five senses, the one hundred Kaurava brothers represent our never-ending material desires and Lord Krishna represents our mind that is the director of our life. So in this war the „Five Senses‟ (the five Pandava brothers) have to fight against the material „Desires‟ (the Kaurava) for detaching the soul from material pleasures and pains (that is the outcome of desires).

And to explain this transcendence beyond the Krishna mind that sage composer has let all the verses of the eternal text flow out of Sri Bhagwan and not Sri Krishna.

The conversation in the Bhagavad Gita between Lord Krishna and Arjuna represents the „Learning Process‟ which we have to undergo to learn true „Spiritual Principles‟. As the soul (consciousness) is linked to body through mind (Lord Krishna) the victory can finally be there when the soul win over our material desires by controlling our senses (which are directed by the mind). The control of mind over five senses enables the soul to get enlightened. When the soul takes the control and this state is achieves, you become completely enlightened.

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Quarterly International Journal – Gita Dhyan Sadhana Since Lord Krishna is represented by the mind, it indicates that we have to go beyond the mind and therefore go beyond Lord Krishna to know the ultimate truth.

And to explain this transcendence beyond the Krishna mind that sage composer has let all the verses of the eternal text flow out of Sri Bhagwan and not Sri Krishna.

The Veda itself says that the truth is only to be found beyond the four Vedas. Therefore even mind itself knows that the level of soul is beyond its reach. The pure consciousness can only work through the mind in a developed soul or a master soul.

The angels were ordered to bow before the Manbody Human body is considered to be the highest in all creation, because through that alone we have the capacity and privilege to realize God. So in our Holy Scripture it is told that angels, gods and goddesses should bow before man, since human body is the only true temple of God wherein is the shrine of God. The findings all Masters are like that.

Mohammed call it the “Noblest of all creation” The Hindus called it as the “form divine” And the Sikhs tell us that man is the “highest of all creation”, And the Christ referred to it as “the temple of the Living God”.

It is also laid down in the Upanishads that when the bodies were set up, the souls of the Rishis come up and entered in the human body - they selected that as the highest of all creation. Similarly, in the Mohammedan scriptures it is laid down when the human body was set up, God ordered the angels to bow down before him.

How the ancient Greek lost their faith The ancient Greek lost their faith in their gods and goddess when they discovered that the gods and goddess had the same bad attributes like any ordinary men. The gods was fighting and felt jealous just like ordinary Page | 8

Quarterly International Journal – Gita Dhyan Sadhana human beings. “Then what was the difference between the two?” The Greek asked them. The Gods had not reached victory in the war with their own desires, then how could they help us overcome our desires? So why should we follow them, when they could not even help themselves?

Therefore angels, gods, goddesses and avatars are very highly developed beings, but they have not reached the finely liberation. Once pointing to a black ant, Lord Krishna remarked to Udhav that it had incarnated many times as Brahma and Indra and other high beings, but now it was merely an ant.

So too all these beings; Brahma (known as Archangel Michael in the West), Vishnu (Archangel Israel), Shiva (Archangel Gabriel), gods, goddesses and avatars, are all from the higher regions but they are all subject to transmigration. They are all bound with their karma. So very few some rare Mahatmas who can go in - know there true God. Lord Krishna, even while being an avatar, was bound to born as a fish, tortoise and boar before he could come as a human being and as Krishna. It is from our Holy Scriptures. So if he himself was not the master over his own karma, then how can he help other to be saved from it? Naturally he cannot!

You have to go beyond the mind to win the war over your desires.

So the ancient Greek discovered that salvation couldn‟t be attained through the worship of different gods. Instead each one has to face its own self, in order to get self-realization that finely leads to God realization. That‟s why the ancient Greek aphorism „Know thyself‟, was inscribed over the entrance to the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. One has to rise beyond the level of mind – into the state of no mind – if one wants to know his true Self.

Lord Krishna – the Avatar So who is Lord Krishna? According to his own words spoken in Shloka 32 of chapter 11 of Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna has described himself as Kal (time or death): ‘I am Kal, the powerful destroyer of the worlds, and I have come to destroy all humans. Except from you (the Pandaverna) all the worriers here on both sides will be destroyed.’

During his teaching Krishna shows his real form for Arjuna through a vision.

Arjuna saw how Krishna transformed into a huge terrifying being, containing a lot of arms, stomachs, mouths, teeth, eyes, snakes, gods and goddess. He Page | 9

Quarterly International Journal – Gita Dhyan Sadhana saw how a lot of people, even his own soldiers, got into the mouth of this terrifying being, where they all got crushed. So he controlled and punished them all.

Arjuna never wanted to have a war or to kill his enemy, because he was conscious about the law of karma and its consequences. But after seeing the vision given by Lord Krishna he surrenders to the will of Krishna and was willing to fight.

Krishna told that if Arjuna did not kill them, they would get killed in some other way anyhow. Krishna had showed Arjuna in the vision that their destiny was already fixed and they all had to die.

So Krishna‟s real purpose to come into this world was to punish the unrighteous people and to protect the virtuous. In Shloka 7-8 of the chapter 4 of Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna declare, ‘Whenever there is decline of righteousness, and unrighteousness is in the ascendant, then I body Myself forth to protect the virtuous and put an end to evildoers; to establish Dharma, I am born from age to age.’

This is one of the most important verses in the Gita. So in this way Lord Vishnu incarnated many times.

So the avatars come to punish the wicked, uphold the righteous, and set the world going. Their job is to uphold the law of justice. The law of karma is very just. So they reward or punish the people, due to their karma. They come to give the reactions of our karma, not to put an end to our karma.

They come to destroy the evil doers, not the evil in them. They are the administrators of justice, not the administrators of forgiveness. So the avatars do not come to destroy our karma, which is our only cause for being here in the world as prisoners.

Nobody can escape the law of Karma In Ramayana it is said that Lord Rama killed the invincible Bali, a forest prince, by the shooting an arrow from behind the cover of a tree in an ambush. When the man died, he said: “Well, Rama, I did not have anything against you, why are you killing me?

You will have to safer.”

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Quarterly International Journal – Gita Dhyan Sadhana Then Rama come in his next incarnation as Lord Krishna, and that man whom he killed took the form of a hunter in the jungle. Lord Krishna was lying in the jungle with his left foot over his right knee. There was a lotus mark of the avatar. So the hunter saw it and thought, perhaps it was the eye of a deer, so he shot the arrow and it hit the foot of Lord Krishna, and he died of that.

So the avatars do not Before Krishna left the body, the hunter went forward and saw that it was not a deer, but it was Lord Krishna. So he wept and said, “O Lord Krishna, I made a big mistake in my life. I killed the avatar, this was not my intention. Forgive me.”

come to destroy our karma, which is our only cause for being here in the world as prisoners.

Lord Krishna said: “No, there is nothing to forgive. You did the right thing.”

So this is the law of Karma, because Lord Rama had killed Bali that now had come back in the form of this hunter. So the reaction is there. Even the avatars cannot get rid of the reaction.

Remember the king Dhritarashtra in Bhagavad Gita that was born blind. Lord Krishna once asked the King, "In which birth did you commit such sins as to warrant your present blindness?"

The king said, "Through my yogic powers, I can go back one hundred births, and I have found nothing that would cause me to pay with blindness."

But, Lord Krishna was the great Yogishwar of that age, and in one moment He made it possible for the king to see further back into the past, and there he found that one hundred and seven births back, he had done certain actions for which he had to pay with blindness. When he was a child in that life, he had put a thorn in the eye of an insect. And now more than hundred births later the reaction was there.

Just see how strong is the law of action and reaction! Whatever actions you have performed must be faced and paid up. "Birth and death cannot be finished; as the actions cannot be erased."

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Quarterly International Journal – Gita Dhyan Sadhana

The teachings of Lord Krishna Instead of destroying our karma Lord Krishna taught how to live in the world and acting like a player on the stage, without being identified with the role that you are playing. You are only acting on order of the main director (God) in the play of this world. You should not have any own interest or expectations of its outcome. Your role is just like the postman delivering the post, without claiming to be the sender of the post. While you are acting in the world without claiming to be the doer, you will naturally not be responsible for the actions you perform, and therefore not creating any new karma. This is the medication prescribed by Lord Krishna.

Only if you act as a doer with ego, you have to bear the consequences. But if you know that there is only one doer in the world, the God Power working through you, it is the God Power that works and you will not bear the fruit and reactions of your actions.

So if you are acting as an actor alone in this world, you will not be affected by the circumstances of the world. Like an actor being killed in the play, are unaffected and rise up after the play is over and continue with his ordinary life. It was just a play and nothing happened to the actor for real. It was like an illusion for the audience to watch.

Even so the characters you are playing in this physical world have to suffer and die, you, as an actor should not be affected.

Only if you are falsely identified with your character and the body you have to suffer.

At level of soul there is no suffering or death. The suffering and death can only happened if you are identified at the lower levels of mind and body. Lord Krishna stressed the distinction between the body and the dweller in the body:

Only if you act as a doer with ego, you have to bear the consequences. But if you know that there is only one doer in the world, the God Power working through you, it is the God Power that works and you will not bear the fruit and reactions of your actions.

“The dweller i.e. soul in all the bodies, is eternal and cannot be killed.”

(Shloka 30, chapter 2).

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Quarterly International Journal – Gita Dhyan Sadhana The individual soul that wears all bodies cannot be slain. Just as the worn out clothes are given up for new ones, so the soul enters into new bodies discarding old bodies. In rebirth the physical body again covers your subtle astral body.

The wise has settled this doctrine that what is not true and eternal cannot exist forever, and that what is true and eternal cannot perish. The embodied soul is true and eternal. But this human body is inevitable to decay. Death is inevitable for those who have been born. And birth is inevitable for those who have died. It is not proper to grieve at the inevitable. Therefore Krishna asked Arjuna to not hesitate before the war that was inevitable, but to perform his duty that was laid upon him.

The perfect yogis give up all the bodies (physical, astral and mental). Hence their rebirth or transmigration doesn‟t take place.

The yoga system taught by Lord Krishna To attained enlightenment Bhagavad Gita has described the way of Jnana Yoga (the path of knowledge and discrimination), Bhakti Yoga (the path of devotion and love towards God), Karma Yoga (the path of action) and Dhyan Yoga (the path of meditation).

These are the known as the way of head, heart and hand, signifying Jnana Yoga, Bhakti Yoga and Karma Yoga.

To make yoga more practicable for different types of people based on individual temperaments. The persons who are highly intellectual may choose the Jnana Yoga or „the Yoga of Knowledge,‟ and those with an emotional temperament may follow Bhakti Yoga or „the Yoga of Devotion‟. Again, those who are primarily engaged in the outer activities of the world are considered as best fitted for Karma Yoga or „the Yoga of Action‟. Last is Dhyan Yoga or „the Path of Meditation‟.

Taoshobuddha has said: “When mind knows, it is Knowledge. When heart knows, it is Love. And when the being knows, it is Meditation.”

Lord Krishna may have added that “When the hand knows how to acts according to the Divine Plan, it is True Living.”

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Quarterly International Journal – Gita Dhyan Sadhana

The Yoga of Action It is best to do the duties of the world, while at the same time practising the Yoga of Action (Karmayoga). Being free from the desires of getting the fruits of one‟s own actions while performing the duties for the whole life in this world is the essences of the Yoga of Action.

The method of the Yoga of Action is thus that you should perform the duties through the organs of senses - the five Pandava brothers), keeping control over them through mind - Lord Krishna and being unattached to the fruit of action. You have only right to act and not to the harvest of it.

To do this you need to be free from the desires for the objects of the three gunas, „heaven‟, „enjoyment of senses‟ and the „fruit of actions performed‟ by you. Keep yourself detached to the dualities like pains and pleasures etc. and practise to attain the equanimity of mind.

Those who have realised God have led their lives performing their duties in the world. Everyone should follow them. You should be in the world, but not letting the world come into your mind. Like the boat that is in the water, but the water should not enter into the boat otherwise the boat will sink and you will also sinking. So to be able to cross the ocean of life, the water of desire should not enter the boat of this human body.

Meditation on your own Self At the same time, with such kind of action performed, you should pay special attention to the practice of „Trikaala Sandhyaa‟ (practising meditation thrice a day), so that you may stick to the Self and become selfcentred. Yoga is both the equanimity of mind as well the skill to perform an action. Giving up of „Trikaala Sandhyaa‟ the „Yoga of Action‟ alone cannot enable oneself in becoming self-centred.

This is why Lord Krishna himself practised „Trikaala Sandhyaa‟. Getting up early at predawn time about three hours prior to sunrise and after washing face and feet, Lord Krishna used to practise meditation of his Self and feel unique enlightenment which is above the darkness of illusion (Extracted from Shrimad Bhagavad, Skandha 10, chapter 70).

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Quarterly International Journal – Gita Dhyan Sadhana

Can there be action after realising the Self?

In the Ramcharitmanas of Tulsidas, this question has been put, „Can there be action after realization of the Self?‟ He who has risen beyond the state of ego, remaining firm in this state; he is a non-doer even though he performs his duties of the world. This sacrifice of his ego burns his sins (all the bondage of actions) into ashes. He remains a non-doer. He is ever untouched with the actions. He, who knows God perfectly, is in reality not bound by action. Only such a pure soul can attain moksha or God realisation. This is the beauty of the teaching of Ramayana and Bhagavad Gita.

Even the wise cannot discriminate between what is Karma (attached action) and Akarma (none doing or detached action).

The secret of Karma (action), Vikarma (prohibited action) and Akarma (none doing) is worth knowing. The mystery about Karma and Akarma, is to see none doing in action, and action in the none doing.

The final Liberation can only happen when you are no more When a perfect yogis gives up his ego, there are no one left to perform the actions, and all actions become no-actions. When the same yogi gives up all his bodies (physical, astral and mental) then there is no body left to take rebirth and the transmigration doesn‟t take place. This is the final liberation or enlightenment, as Buddha would have called it.

Editor‟s Note Lars Jensen hails from Stockholm in Sweden. He is the author of “The Secrets of Spiritual Life – Excerpts of the Talks of Taoshobuddha”

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Quarterly International Journal – Gita Dhyan Sadhana

GITA an overview Anil Sohoni

Gita Chapter 1 Arjun Vishad Yoga To Acknowledge Grief Accept that you are suffering and you are in great difficulties. Accept this as a natural phenomenon in life. It is common to all and nothing so special to you alone. With immediate effect by any means try to be calm and be quiet.

If mind if too agitated then no logical thinking is possible. Once mind is calm down then further solution is possibly simpler. Pray your Guru, the Master and calm down. Surrender all problems unto him and seek his advice.

Gita Chapter 2 Sankhya Yoga To get Informed Now one should study about mind. How mind works, what it is made up of, what its mechanism should be understood thoroughly. Impurities of mind like, agitation, likes and dislikes should be known correctly. Mind is an instrument. So how to use this instrument without getting hurt and how to produce desired results like happiness and peace cannot be achieved unless we know in and out of the instrument.

Gita Chapter 3 Karma Yoga To Act Skillfully Before we act we must know how action takes place and what mechanism behind it is should be known. If action is performed wrongly our instrument, Page | 16

Quarterly International Journal – Gita Dhyan Sadhana the mind gets dirty and gets damaged. So do’s and don’ts do’s be carefully studied.

Gita Chapter 4 Gyan Karma Sannyas Yoga To Acquire Knowledge and Renunciation of Actions Up to this point we have done primary work. Now mind is re-adjusted, realigned, and become comparatively pure to digest real knowledge, the knowledge of ‘The Self’. Now one has to practice to believe that abode of all creation is ‘Brahman’, The Absolute Principal. One should practice to do all a c t i o n s f o r ‘Him’ alone. This is r e n u n c i a t i o n o f Actions. Along with this practice of renunciation of action one should continue in study about ‘Brahma Vidya’, Knowledge of Self.

Gita Chapter 5 Karma Sanyas Yoga To Renounce Actions Without craving for fruits of action one should act. This is the renunciation.

He is real ‘sanyasi’. Now ‘Sadhaka’ should do all actions for purification of mind. He should make his mind that I want to realign with god. Stead fasting in this thought he should think that he and God are one and same.

All the time he should fix his mind unto God alone.

Gita Chapter 6 Atma Sanyam Yoga To Control Mind Now he must learn ‘Astang Yog Sadhana’, eight fold method to control mind and Meditate upon The Absolute Principal. To understand Mind is just thoughts in form of vibrations. Thoughtlessness is God Phase. This is ‘Samadhi”. It is the ultimate stage of Bliss. It is Param Shanti, the stage of the Absolute. The Liberation.

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Quarterly International Journal – Gita Dhyan Sadhana Gita Chapter 7 Gyan Vigyan Yoga To Know the Science of Eternal and of Universe In order to enter into realm of ‘Bhakti’, Love to God one must study power of God. His greatness must be studied. The Absolute and this universe of names and forms are one and the same. This initial practice to see God everywhere.

Gita Chapter 8 Akshyar BrahmaYoga To know Absolute Now one should study in details about Brahman the absolute, Adhibhoot phenomenal world of name and forms, adhiydnya the universal action, Adhiatma the knower, Adhidaiva the powers in universe. The knowledge of such terms leads to deep faith that the soul and the god are same.

Gita Chapter 9 Raj Vidya Raj guhya Yoga To Noble and Royal science Here is the next step in evolution that one should learn how to love god and start loving him immediately.

Gita Chapter 10 Vibhooti Yoga To know where God resides To strengthen the Love to God one must know where one can see, feel, find God and revere him. Ultimately one should understand that God has created the universe by small part of Him and actually He is above all.

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Quarterly International Journal – Gita Dhyan Sadhana Gita Chapter 11 VishwaRoop Darshan Yoga To see God’s Divine Picture Here now the Sadhaka should understand Divine, magnificent and splendorous picture of God. It is necessary to know that God can be seen in name and form but He is above all name and form. He is the Existence. He is the Absolute.

Gita Chapter 12 Bhakti Yoga To Love God The Love is the feeling of mind internally. But to manifest the Love Sadhaka should do SERVICE OF ALL THINGS AND BEINGS. The service to ALL is real meditation.

Gita Chapter 13 Kshetra kshetradnya Yoga To know Field of Action and the Knower Now one should study what are the field of perception and action’ As well one should know who is knower of this field. The field of name and forms is being evolved from that Absolute only. Once this is known then extravagant attraction towards worldly matters will diminish and Love to God will be deepened.

Gita Chapter 14 Gunatraya Vibhag Yoga To know three fold properties One should know that three properties of universal things and being are: 1) Satwa i.e. knowledge, perception, light divine.

2) Raj i.e. dynamism.

3) Tama i.e. ignorance, crude forms.

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Quarterly International Journal – Gita Dhyan Sadhana Sadhak should understand that all these property are nothing but shackles.

The Lord is ‘Nirgun and Nirakar, i.e. He is property less and formless.

Gita Chapter 15 Purushottam Yoga To know who is the best person The sadhaka now understand that world of name and form is false, mere illusion. The God Absolute is the truth. One should contemplate on thought that I am The Truth Absolute.

Gita Chapter 16 Daivi Asuri Sampada Yoga To know what are divine and lower qualities One should study what are divine and non-divine qualities and their effects in one’s life. One should try to give up lower qualities and develop higher qualities. One should surrender to Master the Guru and learn Science of God.

Gita Chapter 17 Shraddha Traya Yoga To know three fold faiths One should do detail study of three types of faiths, food, offerings, knowledge, actions, holding capacity of mind etc. One should try to develop divine qualities.

Gita Chapter 18 Mokshya Sanyas Yoga To know how to liberate Last but not least: Do all your actions as per your own tenancies. Know your tendencies based on your birth. Avoid all action which is desire prompted. Do all action with understanding that actions are true offering to God. And Page | 20

Quarterly International Journal – Gita Dhyan Sadhana slowly your mind will become pure and you will qualify to be a Happiest Person and ultimately will liberate to become one with God. Give up all animism with things and beings and serve them.

trI AvaQaana ekvaoL dIjao maga sava- sauKaXaI pa~ hao[jao ho p`it&ao<ar maaJao ]GaD eoka %yaasaazI JaDJaDaonaI vaihlaa naIGa [yao Bai>icayaa vaaTo laaga jayaa pavasaI AvyaMga inajaQaama maaJao

Pay attention to ‘Me’ At least, once!

You will qualify To be a happy Ever – for ever This is ‘My’ promise Give up the world Of Names and forms And Be on The path of Love to God Then You will become ‘Me’ ‘ME Alone (Dnyaneshwari) Page | 21

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Qualify yourself to be a ‘Happy Person’ The misaligned Mind is responsible for all sorrows and grief in the life. Lord Shri Krishna prescribes a scientific scheme to human being for cleansing, developing and evolving the mind so that in first place he will becomes ever happy and then will reach to godhood.

trI AvaQaana ekvaoL dIjao maga sava- sauKaXaI pa~ hao[jao ho p`it&ao<ar maaJao ]GaD eoka %yaasaazI JaDJaDaonaI vaihlaa naIGa [yao Bai>icayaa vaaTo laaga jayaa pavasaI AvyaMga inajaQaama maaJao

Pay attention to ‘Me’ At least, once!

You will qualify Yourself To be a happy Ever – for ever This is ‘My’ promise!!!

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Quarterly International Journal â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Gita Dhyan Sadhana

Submitted by Anil Sohoni Editorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s note: the contents and images of this article are contributions from Anil Sohoni. Gita Dhyan Sadhana (GDS) does not claim any responsibility for copyright infringements.

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Quarterly International Journal â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Gita Dhyan Sadhana

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Quarterly International Journal – Gita Dhyan Sadhana To be happy is a natural instinct of all living beings.

No body likes to become unhappy or sad.

It is necessary to know how this happiness or sadness is being generated.

THEORY OF VEDANTA Only the Absolute Exists As per Veda before manifestation of the world there was only one without other - the absolute – the Brahman – God/Lord – Allah as described and named by many religions or by school of thoughts.

Understanding Our Personality With the aim of discovering the art of personality development, the sages of the Upanishads examined life and found that an experience is not possible without three fundamental factors: 1. the experiencer 2. the object of experience 3. the relationship between the two is the experiencing” The Individual “I” The individual is an experiencer who experiences on three levels 1: P – Perceiver perceives

O - Objects through B – Body Organs, Instruments for perception 2: F - Feeler feels

E - Emotions through M - Mind 3: T - Thinker thinks

T - Thoughts through I - Intellect (PFT) is the subject who gains experiences of the world (OET) through the Page | 26

Quarterly International Journal â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Gita Dhyan Sadhana instruments of experiencing (BMI). Through the body, the person experiences the world of objects; through the mind, one experiences the world of emotions, and through the intellect, the world of ideas.

When the subject identifies with the intellect, he becomes the thinker, experiencing the world of thoughts and ideas; when identified with the mind he becomes the feeler, experiencing the world of emotions and feelings; and when identified with the body, he becomes the perceiver, experiencing the world of objects.

Therefore each individual acts out the various roles of a perceiver, feeler, and thinker as he seeks his happiness in the world of objects, emotions, and thoughts.

In every experience in life, man contacts the world through the media of four constituent entities in him. They are his body, mind, intellect, and the Consciousness, symbolized by the symbol Om, which is the Life Principle in him.

Body, Mind, Intellect The physical body, the densest aspect of the human personality, contains the five organs of perception and the five organs of action. The size and shape of the body differ from individual to individual, but the essential material composing it and the functions of the organs are common to all.

Again, the subtlest aspect, the Consciousness, which is the core of man's composite personality, is one and same in all human beings. The variable factor in man is the mind and intellect equipment.

The mind is the seat of impulses and feelings, and it is common to all living creatures. Animals also possess a mind, but man alone has the capacity to discriminate and analyze his feelings as and when they arise. He alone can allow his actions to be guided and directed by his power of discrimination instead of being driven and carried away by momentary impulses and feelings. This faculty of discrimination, this power of judgment, this capacity to discern what is to be done and what is to be avoided, is the function of the intellect.

The kaleidoscopic patterns of experience are, therefore, attributed to the difference in texture and quality of the mind and intellect. In fact, it is only Page | 27

Quarterly International Journal â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Gita Dhyan Sadhana the mind and intellect equipment which come in contact with one another whenever there is a meeting or transaction between two individuals.

Vasanas The quality and textures of the mind and intellect equipment differ from one individual to another, depending upon one's inherent and innate tendencies or inclinations, which are called vasanas.

Vasanas create desires in the intellect; desires produce thoughts in the mind, and thoughts manifest in the form of actions at the level of the physical body. Desires, thoughts and actions are, therefore, only manifestation of vasanas in the respective individual. Each one of us thus becomes a helpless statement of our past though this impulse of vasanas.

Vasanas are generated by our egocentric contacts with the world of objects, emotions and thoughts. The stronger the vasanas, the more we are subject to unconscious urges; the more we are controlled by our urges, the greater are the devastating agitations of the mind. Even when the desires are gratified, we find no lasting happiness, for the vasanas only kindle more desires. The conditions of the body, mind and intellect must be transcended in order for us to regain our true nature. The vasanas have to be changed if one's desires, thoughts and actions need correction. These tendencies or vasanas can be purified with the study of philosophy and the practice of religion, and thereby human personality can be elevated to a higher spiritual level.

Om, the Symbol of Truth At the level of the cosmic totality, Om, the Life Principle, is called Brahman.

The individual, as part of the totality, has this spark of life. At this individual level, this divine Self, Om, is also known as Atman. Due to our vasanas and the consequent desires, agitations, and actions, we are ignorant of this divine Self. Therefore, we identify with our body, mind, and intellect and their limitations. An individual is the Self as though contaminated by this ignorance. The principle by whose mere presence the intellect thinks, the mind feels, and the body perceives, is Om, the Self.

As the divine Om trickles down to express itself in the various instruments of the personality, it becomes distorted by the pressure of vasanas. To achieve spiritual realization, the mind has to be purified of its desires and agitations, thus relieving it of its subjective impressions. The fewer the Page | 28

Quarterly International Journal – Gita Dhyan Sadhana agitations in the mind, result into the fewer the vasanas; the fewer the At the level of the cosmic vasanas, result into the quieter the mind. totality, Om, the Life Principle, As the mind becomes quiet, it remains in is called Brahman. a state of meditation. When the vasanas are completely transcended, the Self manifests of its own accord. Only then does man know his true birthright.

The only method for regaining one's true nature is to vigilantly and ceaselessly divert one's mind and intellect away from preoccupation with objects, emotions, and thoughts and direct it to an awareness of the divine Self. The four yogas or spiritual paths in Hinduism – the paths of Knowledge, Devotion, Action and Mysticism – are all directed to the purification of vasanas so as to rehabilitate the mind and intellect and reconstitute the individual personality.

Anil Sohoni is born in Mumbai, belongs to typical ‘Chitpavan Kokanasta Brahmin’. Parents were religious and tolerant to all other religions, especially to Christianity and Islam.

Studied as Mechanical Engineer from VJTI Bombay. Worked with Mahintra Tractors, Philips India and retired as Asst Manager from Tata motors.

At age of 18 met with H.H. Swami Chinmayananda ji. Studied Vedanta in Chinmaya Mission. He conducted ‘Chinmaya Study Group’, for thirty years and tried to motivate about 50 families to study Vedanta. He has authored several books which are available on www.scribd.com The available titles are as follows: Dakshinamoorti Stotra Dakshinamoorti Stotra (Critics In Marathi) Ganapati Atharvashirsha critic in Marathi Geeta Ch II 25-54 Critics In Marathi Geeta Ch II 55-72 (Critics In Marathi) Page | 29

Quarterly International Journal â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Gita Dhyan Sadhana Geeta Ch III Verse 1-19 (Critics In Marathi) Geeta Ch III Verse 20-42 Critics In Marathi Geeta Ch IV (Critics In Marathi Geeta Ch iV Verse 23-42 (Critics In Marathi) Geeta Ch IX 26-34 Geeta Ch VI Critics In Marathi Geeta Ch VI Verse 20-47 (Critics In Marathi) Geeta CH VII (Critics In Marathi) Geeta Ch-I (Critcs In Marathi) Just Chill Kathopanishad Critics In Marathi KathopnishadKathpnishad Ch II (Critics In Marathi) Narad Bhakti Sutra Ch IX Mira ke Shyam (in English) Narad Bhakti Sutra Ch II Narad Bhakti Sutra Ch IV (Critics In Marathi) Narad Bhakti Sutra Ch VIII Sarva Dharman Parityajya http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0051WJVWK Shri Ganapati Atharvashirsha www.amazon.com This is a critique on Atharvashirsha. You will find meaning in English along with critics with scientific approach. Hope this will be useful to all, those who have curiosity about Vaidic Philosophy and also for those who are seekers. We worship the unborn, unchanging, formless, the one be...

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Quarterly International Journal â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Gita Dhyan Sadhana

I vow in adorations and offer myriad salutations to the God whom Brahma, Varuna, Indra, Rudra and the Marutas eulogize and exalt in myriad ways with divine hymns. To whom the Sama â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Chanters beseech on their parts, with chanting sections of Sama and Upanishads, and to whom the yogis envision with their minds established in meditation, whose end too remains unknown and unknowable to the hordes of devas and asuras.

T

his is the last Sutra of this beautiful composition, the Gita Dhyana Shlokas. It pays homage to that Transcendental Being that is eternal and unmanifest and is the very pulse of the cosmos. Indeed it is the same Cosmic Being that permeates the entire cosmos and its radiance replaces the 50,000 cells that have died while you read this sentence â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a few moments ago. The same Unknown and Unknowable energy that provides every square inch of your skin with 4 yards of nerve fibers, 1300 nerve cells, 100 sweat glands, 3 million cells and 3 yards of blood vessels. Indeed it is that, which we take for granted throughout time, space and life span, yet being the only thing that remains with us throughout, through our experiences of life and living.

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Quarterly International Journal – Gita Dhyan Sadhana Such is the splendour of this Entity that the gods - sattvika ones, such as Brahma - the creator, Varuna - the sea god, Indra - the lord of heaven, Rudra - the god of destruction and Maruta - the wind god - bow down with adoration and respect. This is poetically indicative of the enormousness and splendor of the Supreme Being.

It implies that truly sattvika ones – the enlightened ones understand their insignificance compared to the Transcendental Being. That, men of awareness humble themselves before It. It is praised even by singers of the Sama Veda as true devotees. Indeed the Sama Veda is the Veda from which classical music emanated. It is claimed to be the most melodious of the Vedas that overflows the Divine Essence.

He is paying tribute to that Supreme Being that yogis, seekers of the Truth, reach at the culmination of the spiritual path in meditation as Samadhi or enlightenment.

Those who go beyond their limited experiences, attain to liberation from this seemingly unending cycle of birth and death to become one with their true Self.

Today we do not appreciate the value and significance of the Gita, its splendour, essence and role in our lives. We think of it as something that is good for retired persons and our grandparents. It is considered a block to the life of enjoyment. Ignorant of this we go about running behind material opulence as fancy homes, better cars and large Pay Cheques. Little do we understand that what we really seek does not exist in the outer world of objects and being, instead it is within us?

We spend our entire lives running after the peripheral world without even conscious that we have to leave it all behind. All we really take with us is our awareness as spiritual treasure.

Shouldn’t we have to think about investing in them? About investing in ourselves just as prudently as we invest our money? About having our own spiritual fund manager who guides us to leverage our spiritual assets? These are the questions we need to ask ourselves. And maybe then, there might be the true spiritual awakening.

Our emphasis on the Gita Dhyan Shlokas and entering Gita Dhyan Sadhana is to introduce you to the mystical insights of the Bhagavad Gita shrouded in compassion of Sri Krishna. Indeed it is through sadhana, one attains to insights that ultimately paves the way for spiritual life.

We only hope that through this and subsequent issues of The Journal of Gita Dhyan Sadhana we can ignite the spiritual spark that is within each one of you. So let us strive, wherever we are, facing our own share of difficulties, we can awaken to ourselves – the Spirit within.

Om Tat Sat!!!

Taoshobuddha

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Quarterly International Journal – Gita Dhyan Sadhana

Taoshobuddha

I

ndeed it is one Cosmic Soul permeating through the entire cosmos, dwells within each one of us. The Cosmic Being that remains unmanifest in its cosmic form gets embedded and assumes human form as embodied being.

This embodied being remains conditioned by body – mind – intellect realm.

The spiritual journey is the process of freeing the Cosmic Being – Essential nature from the quagmire of the conditioning.

And with Enlightenment the Light of the Being manifests through the finite Body-Mind-Intellect.

Enlightenment is the realization of the assertion of Issa Upanishad: one consciousness or being permeates through the entire cosmos. Those who have known this live perennially in eternal bliss.

` $zavaSyimd< svR< yiTk jgTya< jgt ten Ty-en

-–uÃIwa ma g&x> kSyiSvÏnm!

Taoshobuddha Remember unless one is caught in the turmoil within or without the journey of transcendence never begins.

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Quarterly International Journal – Gita Dhyan Sadhana „Every pain, conflict, turmoil, agony or disturbance can become a satori… a Samadhi. It can become a breakthrough, because it is really the state of pain that becomes a breakthrough. It is through pain that one transcends.

Pain gives you the opportunity to introspect. Never through pleasure has one reached the beyond. Because in pleasure one indulges and one becomes more and more oblivious of one‟s being. When everything is going well, who bothers? Then one is on a merry-go-round, lost. But when pain is there, suffering is there, one naturally becomes more alert, more aware – one has to be: the pain is a great challenge. Pain is transcendence.‟ [Excerpt: Horizons-beyond Mind by Taoshobuddha]

It is always out of inner conflict, pain and despondency heralds the new horizon for the transcendence.

If you accept pain, and do not deny it, you are not scared of it, and you accept it as part of life without any judgment, with no idea of whether it is good or bad – it is simply there, as a fact, neither good nor bad only then transcendence is possible.

Once you accept this you start transcending, you become more alert, and finally a witness. The pain is there but you are no more identified with it.

You are beyond.

The hand may be cut but you will remain. The money will vanish but you are. The husband, the wife, the children may leave you or die but you are.

Nothing will be cut from you in part or totality, your consciousness will not lose anything in it and that is indeed the real thing.

The cutting of the leg or hand, or burning of the body is almost just as if you cut the sleeve of the shirt, or discard your trousers? Inside you remain the same. Nothing changes.

You are not your shirt. You are not the sleeve or the trouser. Instead these are parts of the garments that adorn your body. Just as the sleeve of the shirt is not the shirt. May be it is not in your hand. In exactly the same way, the leg or your hand is not you. These are the part of the body. The pain will definitely be felt. But going beyond the pain is the way of transcendence. So too the body is not you. Even if the whole body disappears nothing disappears – one remains. So let this be a great experience. This is the Gita Experience.

My whole approach is to accept whatsoever life brings pain or pleasure.

Accept it with gratefulness. As blessing from the unknown and the Page | 34

Quarterly International Journal – Gita Dhyan Sadhana unknowable accept in totality. This is the fruits from the tree of consciousness that you once planted. No one is responsible.

Do not complain. It is very natural to have a grudge but through grudge you miss the point and thus the transcendence and the realm beyond the duality and the mind.

You can be very angry inside. You may complain „Why has this happened to me? Why not to others? What have I done? You remain complaining. Your awareness does not take you beyond this point. And out of your upbringing and conditioning you blame the other for all your pain.

Introspect on what karmas, what wrong have I done in my past lives? Not why should it happen to me? Or that I am so young and the whole life is there. Or why am I suffering?‟ certainly you will miss the eternal message of The Bhagavad Gita.

Transcendence through pain and despondency is certainly possible. This is the essence of the Bhagavad Gita. Just follow in this spirit certainly transcendence will happen.

Taoshobuddha

I

emphasize the word Transmitted. Yes indeed the message of Bhagavad Gita was TRANSMITTED in a state of Samadhi or meditation from Krishna to Arjuna. Indeed Arjuna did not ask any question and Krishna did not respond. Yet still the entire message of Bhagavad Gita happened.

Arjuna was ready. There was inner preparation. And the Mystical Krishna transfers the entire message of ‘Bhagavad Gita’ as „Mind Seal’ to Arjuna.

This is a communion beyond words.

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Quarterly International Journal – Gita Dhyan Sadhana This is how Narad transferred the entire life of Sri Rama to sage Valmiki and thus when the inner beauty and the realization manifested in the outer world it came to be known as ‘Ramayana’. This is how Holy Quran was dawned on Holy Prophet.

All Scriptures are transmission from the state of Samadhi as inner beauty that assumes words.

Bhagavad Gita is eternal truth that establishes identity between ‘that’ (essence) and ‘thou’ (significance). It is the pilgrimage in ‘The – Yoga – of – Self – Evolution’. Follow it in that spirit. Thus it will sanctify your life your living!’

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Quarterly International Journal – Gita Dhyan Sadhana

Taoshobuddha All of us are like Krishna, but there is a small difference which is significant. When Krishna is dancing as a wave he is aware that he belongs to the ocean, he is the ocean itself. But as far as we are concerned we know ourselves only as waves. And we forget that we are the ocean. This is the difference between us and Krishna. And since we know ourselves only as waves, we fail to understand the oceanic form of Krishna.

Y

ou are in no way less than a Buddha, or a Krishna or a Mahabira. You carry the same seed. The only difference between you and Buddha lies in inner preparation. Buddha‟s soil is prepared. And your soil is still barren. Still there is another difference and that is very significant. There is awareness in him and you have to cultivate this before your inward journey can begin.

With such thoughts as I traverse along the garden of eternity I witnessed a new era ushering in human consciousness. The journey continued. With the dawn a new era is ushered in human consciousness.

Scriptures say „Tat Twam Asi’ or ‘that thou art’ is the essence of man‟s inward journey. Only man has to explore the essence and the live by it.

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Quarterly International Journal – Gita Dhyan Sadhana

tt! Tvm AsI, Bhagavad Gita is eternal truth that establishes identity between ‘that’ (essence) and ‘thou’ (significance). It is the pilgrimage in ‘The – Yoga – of – Self – Evolution’. Follow it in that spirit. Thus it will sanctify your life, your living.’

This cannot happen without someone who is enlightened and overflows compassion and one who is on the borderline and with a little effort his slumber can be removed.

Each scripture is the outcome of a particular event. Therefore it has two aspects. First is connected with the actual happening many years ago. And it gets buried in the past. The other aspect relates to its message. The message has the capacity to transform humanity beyond time and space.

Out of the scripture of Mahabharata, that was a fratricidal war between the two forces of Kuru Dynasty, emerged the perennial message for Life Eternal as BHAGAVAD GITA. Therefore, friends the story and symbols of this scripture Mahabharata is associated with your life. Start the process of this eternal ritual so that the neurotic Arjuna in you may understand his true nature at the command of the Lord of Yoga.

This message of eternal bliss was communicated by Yogeshwar Krishna or Absolute intellect to Arjuna – the Jiva or mortal consciousness of Arjuna.

Arjuna had aspired to identify his finite consciousness with the infinite consciousness of the Yogeshwar.

As a result of Arjuna‟s aspiration and his inner preparation the message was intelligible to Arjuna. While his uncle – the blind king Dhrishrashtra exhibited no desire to identify with the absolute. He needed the medium of a telescopic vision between him and the Lord. Unless the aspirant establishes the direct connection with the absolute consciousness no transformation is possible. Sanjaya therefore acts as the relaying apparatus between the blindness of the king and the light of the Yogeshwar. Sanjaya was bestowed with the celestial vision of witnessing the act without being physically present. This authority in Hinduism is referred as Guru.

The Gita Dhyana Sadhana is the process to attune your inner faculties and terminals to get attuned with their counterpart in the celestial realm of the divine. Only then you will be the citizen of the ivory tower of your own making. And your temple, Kaba or

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Quarterly International Journal – Gita Dhyan Sadhana Jerushelum will move along with you. And you shall rejoice this each finite moment – ever serene and equipoise.

Nothing in existence perishes, nor does anything new come into being. For me only appearances change, but the deepest mysteries of life remain forever the same. Individuals come and go. Waves on the surface of the ocean rise and disappear. But that which is hidden in the individual or in the wave is eternal.

We have to look at Krishna in two different ways, only then we can look at ourselves in the same way. We exist at two levels: – 1. One is the level of waves and another is the level of the ocean. As waves we are individual human beings, and 2. As the ocean we are the Supreme Being.

Krishna‟s physical form, his voice, his music are like the waves. This undergoes change. His soul, hidden deep within the recess of the body is like the ocean.

This oceanic Being – the Eternal is described by the sage poet as Sri Bhagwan. This oceanic form of Krishna narrates the message of Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna.

It is for through and go, its soul,

this reason the sage allows the message of Bhagavad Gita to flow Sri Bhagwan – the ocean and not Krishna – the wave. Waves come but the ocean is ever lasting. While the forms of existence change, the spirit which abides within is deathless – eternal.

The spirit was there even when Krishna was not born and it is there when he is no more. It was there before your birth and it will be there even after your death. Krishna was like a wave that arose from the ocean, danced for a while with the winds, and disappeared again in the same ocean.

All of us are like Krishna, but there is a small difference. When Krishna is dancing as a wave he is aware that he belongs to the ocean, he is the ocean itself. But as far as we are concerned we know ourselves only as waves. And we forget that we are the ocean. This is the difference between us and Krishna. And since we know ourselves only as waves, we fail to understand the oceanic form of Krishna.

Krishna‟s physical body, his picture and statue can be used to come in contact with his soul. But it is just a play that belongs to the world of Page | 39

Quarterly International Journal – Gita Dhyan Sadhana appearances. And to understand it we have to approach it from two or three sides.

Even today we can make contact with the oceanic form of Krishna – his soul.

In the same way we can come in contact with the souls of Mahavira and Buddha. And to contact the essential Krishna we can make use of his physical form as a medium or an instrument.

I therefore, salute you O! Yogeshwar, and thy myriad forms that are manifest however remain unmanifest from human cognition to guide the steps of each aspirant as one traverse through the process of eternal transformation ‘The Bhagavad Gita Dhyana Sadhana.’

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Quarterly International Journal – Gita Dhyan Sadhana

Taoshobuddha

K

rishna is the „avatara‟ or incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Hindus consider Krishna as the Total Avatar who personifies anand, or bliss. The word Anand is comprehensive as it encompasses within its womb, awareness of oneness.

At the body – mind plane awareness becomes understanding. We know of ordinary understanding. When the awareness can envision beyond time and space and interacts accordingly Enlightenment has happened.

Enlightenment is the fruition of life energy. The seed of life has blossomed.

However there is misconception created around this word by the priestly community. This creates a dichotomy that Rama is an incarnation, Krishna is an incarnation, and Buddha is incarnation and so on. Be careful to include Jesus and Holy prophet in this category you are told by the ignorant one.

The concept of incarnation only exists in Hinduism but not in other religions.

This creates a division, one is incarnation, and the other in not incarnation.

If God is creator, then is your God prejudiced. He creates one as incarnation and the other as „not incarnation.‟ It is not so and cannot be as well.

Each life is born with this seed of awakening. In some the seed is hidden in subconscious layer, while in others it is hidden in unconscious layer. Very rarely the seed remains in the conscious layer. The process of growth begins when the seed reaches the conscious layer.

The process of movement from subconscious to unconscious and conscious is a long process. In a rare one the process of this movement begins. And still in the rare one fruition happens. Normally these stages of consciousness remain muddled in an individual. Very rarely conscious moments come in your day to day interaction. In most of the situation you interact through subconscious or unconscious layer.

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Quarterly International Journal – Gita Dhyan Sadhana This creates a pattern of life. Such an individual has lived his previous life in such a state and also has left the body in this state. He has no freedom to choose his next life. Although he carries the seed of awakening but because of other factors the journey does not begin.

On the contrary, a Buddha, a Mahavira do not have any sub conscious or unconscious layers in his being. He has freedom to choose his next life. He has the capacity to envision beyond time and space. He can close all his open accounts consciously.

When light manifests through an enlightened one he can envision all unfinished relations and interactions as open accounts. Beyond time and space he brings people together and in the process closes all open accounts.

A Ramakrishna, a Buddha, a Vivekananda, a Gnandeva. Lalaji RA, Sufi Brij Mohan Lal RA, Chachaji RA, a Bhaiyyaji RA and an Osho are aware of this from the beginning and even before the life as well. Their life moves with this awareness. A thin veil remains after birth that is removed very quickly and the journey continues.

Krishna is considered Total Incarnation who was aware of all this from even before birth. His every action is guided by this awareness. When Putana is send by Kansa to kill Krishna while he was still an infant. Krishna envisions the events leading to this beyond time and space. He knows who Putana and how to interact with her. To explain this let me take you into this episode.

In previous life when Vishnu incarnated a VAMAN Avatar (the midget form) Putana was the daughter of demon King Bali. Her name was Ratnamala.

Lord Krishna in his Vaman Avtaar once went to Yakshashala (house of a demi - god). There, Ratnamala saw him and she immediately got a motherly feeling for him and thought in her mind, “I wish I could breast feed this child.”

Lord Krishna could read her mind and so said, “So be it.” Later, Vishnu sought three steps land as boon from the king. And when the king had made the promise the incarnate Vishnu assumed the original form and the story tells that in two steps he covered the entire land and the nether regions for the third step the king offered his head. With this the incarnate put his last step over the head and thus the King was slain and so finished his atrocities.

Seeing this King‟s daughter was filled with remorse against the incarnate.

And she wanted to kill the incarnate Vishnu. Ratnamala was very furious and developed a feeling of enmity for Krishna and again thought, “If I get him as a child, I will breast feed him with poisoned milk.” Krishna again said, “So be it.”

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Quarterly International Journal – Gita Dhyan Sadhana Hence in this life, she came as Putna to breast feed Krishna and with poisoned milk, thus, both her wishes were fulfilled and she attained salvation at the hands of Krishna.

Two different sets of emotions aroused in her for one person. The emotions are muddled. How can the man of awareness envision this and allow each one of his actions be guided by this awareness or love and inner oneness.

Krishna is master of this. From the time he entered the life he is aware.

Maybe for you these are mere stories. Yet still these set a pattern how an enlightened or man of awareness should work in the process of transformation of human consciousness.

Coming back to the story of Putana! Krishna is still an infant Putana is sent by the demon king to kill Krishna. Now she has to relive those two diverse emotions – motherly love for a child and intense desire to kill him. To fulfill this she comes with poison smeared on her breasts. She has done this unconsciously.

As Putana approaches the incarnate Krishna plans his strategies to fulfill the two boons. For her and her role as a demon death in the hands of Krishna is the only way of salvation. So Krishna invokes Shiva as he is accustomed to poison. As the poison removed there is no possibility of any harm coming to Krishna. Putana is unaware of this. Krishna takes the lead and as Putana suckles infant on her breasts Krishna held the breasts as a child will normally do and squeezed the breast until the life force is released from her body.

Putana attains salvation. The diverse muddled emotions that she had for Vishnu in the previous life have now dissolved.

Such is the awareness of an enlightened one. The life of Krishna explains the life pattern for each one of us. However it is only the enlightened ones who understand matter beyond time and space.

Such is the situation of each one of you as you interact in the dualistic world on a day to day basis. Our emotions always get muddled up. And life of unconsciousness continues. When we look at humanity this is the situation.

Tensions, agitations, anger, frustration etc. are our possessions. How to transform such an individual is the concern of the masters. Through Bhagavad Gita Krishna defines the path of transformation of human consciousness.

This is why we called this work as ‘Gita Dhyan Sadhana’. It is the work of an Enlightened Master.

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Quarterly International Journal – Gita Dhyan Sadhana A blissful and aware Krishna designs Bhagavad Gita as the growth pattern for erring humanity. He established dharma and also gave us the teaching as the Bhagavad Gita.

Therefore I salute – Krishna – the Yogeshwar – the Lord of Yoga.

Krishnaya Vasudevaya, Devaki Nanda Nayacha Nandagopa Kumaraya, Sri Govindaya Namo Namaha I bow and pray to lord Krishna, son of Vasudeva and Devaki, also the son of Nandagopa, who takes away sorrows, sufferings, pain and trouble.

Vasudeva sutam devam, Kamsa-Chanoora mardanam Devaki parama-anandam,Krishnam vande Jagatgurum I do vandana (glorification) of Lord Krishna, the resplendent son of Vasudev, who killed the great tormentors like Kamsa and Chanoora, who is a source of greatest joy to Devaki, and who is indeed a world teacher.

Taoshobuddha ‘No understanding can come from the level of consciousness that seeks such understanding.’

Krishna is the Assurance – the experiment in human consciousness, that man can remain, like a lotus in mud, untouched and unattached while living amidst the throes of relationship.

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Quarterly International Journal – Gita Dhyan Sadhana

K

rishna is an experiment in human consciousness. For the first time in the long history man has attempted a great and bold experiment through Krishna. For the first time, through Krishna, man has tested fully his own strength and intelligence. It has been tested and found that man can remain, like a lotus in water, untouched and unattached while living in the throes of relationship. It has been discovered that man can be loving and compassionate even on the battle field. He can continue to love with his whole being while wielding a sword in his hand. Krishna signifies this. That is why we proclaim Krishna is an experiment in human consciousness.

To understand the deeper aspects of life the first thing that is necessary is change in the level of consciousness. Man is consciousness. Consciousness creates a plane for the man to operate with. Consciousness is both fixed and variable. Every individual has a range of consciousness to operate in day to day life. Such is ordinary level of consciousness.

And Albert Einstein says: ‘No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it.’

Such is ordinary life. When it comes to scripture and deeper aspects a different level of consciousness is needed. Each scripture is created from a level of consciousness that is much higher than ordinary level of consciousness.

Do you think that your level of consciousness and that of sage Ved Vyas, who created Bhagavad Gita; or that of Sage Sookdev who created Bhagavad Purana; or that of Sage Valmiki who wrote the first portrayal of the life of Rama as „Ramayana‟; or that of Tulsidas who composed the epic „Ram Charit Manas‟ is the same.

Or from your level of consciousness you can understand the works of these scriptures. In that case you will give your own interpretations. This is the reason there are so many interpretations of Bhagavad Gita.

Shankar has his plane which differs from that of Gandhiji. Lokmanya Tilak, Acharya Vinoba Bhave, Annie Besant, Swami Chinmayanand all represent a plane of consciousness from where they have looked into this scripture.

In one of the compositions Mira says I have looked at you Krishna from different planes of consciousness. Each psycho center or chakra creates a plane of consciousness like a window and when you look at the horizon from a window the perspective will differ. Each of these planes has bondages. It is only when your consciousness has reached the Sahasrar or the thousand Page | 45

Quarterly International Journal – Gita Dhyan Sadhana petal center that there is no variation in the level of consciousness. At this plane there is oneness, harmony and ananda. Mira continues although I have looked at you from different levels yet still I have not known your totality. And the composition continues.

Mhare jnm mr[ sawI wane nhI< ibsê idn ratI Waa< deOya ibn kl n pft hE ja[t merI DatI ^<cI cF cF p<w inhaê raey raey A<ioya< ratI To understand Bhagavad Gita the first thing that is necessary is to bring about a change in your level of consciousness. This requires a certain discipline of a different nature. This is called Sadhana. This uplifts your level of consciousness and then not only you understand the epic instead it becomes your realization.

So is the case with Krishna. There is a vast difference between your level of consciousness and that of Krishna.

Krishna is anand. Krishna is harmony.

Krishna is oneness. Contrary to this you have experienced love in only in fleeting moments of unconsciousness. There is no trace of anand, harmony or oneness.

Your life is that of chaos, despair, and misery.

From this level you cannot understand Krishna. This is the reason Arjuna failed to understand the message of Krishna.

You would have known the story of six blind men who went to venture into the concept of an elephant. Each one of these got hold of one part or the other of elephant as feet, trunk, ears, and tail and used that part to describe the elephant. The part cannot describe the whole. And this is what is being done in the name of scriptures, inner growth, and transformation by the baser intellect.

So is the case with Krishna. There is a vast difference between your level of consciousness and that of Krishna. Krishna is anand. Krishna is harmony. Krishna is oneness. Contrary to this you have experienced love in only in fleeting moments of unconsciousness. There is no trace of anand, harmony or oneness. Your life is that of chaos, despair, and misery.

From this level you cannot understand Krishna. This is the reason Arjuna failed to understand the message of Krishna.

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Quarterly International Journal â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Gita Dhyan Sadhana With this in mind I will overflow Krishna as a symbol of oneness. It is the prerequisite from the level you are. In the absence of all this, religious custodians have created a myth of a different kind around Krishna. You can understand a being but not a myth. Then it was easy to create a dichotomy between you and Krishna. It is declared that Krishna is an incarnation and you are a sinner. The two consciousnesses are different.

A sinner or lower consciousness cannot understand the message of Krishna unless his consciousness changes. If you are no more a sinner and there is no despondency or conflict or agitation within you do not need the Krishna remedy.

You need medicines and prescriptions only as long as you are sick. With symptoms of sickness vanished also disappear all prescriptions and medicines too. You are blissful, harmonized and integrated within. And this is the Ultimate in the message of the Bhagavad Gita. However this is explained in the last Sutra by Sanjaya as his answer to the question asked by the Blind King.

Conflict, despondency, and inner turmoil is the question and bliss, harmony, and inner oneness

Taoshobuddha Dhrishrashtra represents the mind of negativities that negates truth both knowingly and unknowingly. He represents a mind that is born blind. In fact mind is always born blind and blind to truth as well.

Both Dhritarashtra and Arjuna represent two different categories of human minds. This is important to understand before you enter the realm of Bhagavad Gita.

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Quarterly International Journal â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Gita Dhyan Sadhana Dhritarashtra represents the mind of negativities that negates truth both knowingly and unknowingly. He represents a mind that is born blind. In fact mind is always born blind and blind to truth as well. This gets further accentuated when mind that is born blind is wedded to intellect that assumes voluntary blindness. This is represented by Gandhari assuming voluntary blindness by keeping fold on her eyes.

Mind is born blind. It negates truth. And, continues to live in ignorance. Mind is masculine in gender. It is the intellect that guides the mind during the moments of despair, and doubt. But to a human being who had assumed the life of complete disharmony, the intellect assumes voluntary blindness. Intellect Thus your mind is guides the human mind from the Dhritarashtra and your background. Therefore, philosophically, it intellect is Gandhari. is feminine in gender. One is born blind Every moment a myriad and the other assumes voluntary negativity is born in you blindness. that delude your truth Out of such a conjugal relationship are vision. When personified born myriad negativities of which ego and these attract their greed are the chief or the eldest prince. counterpart in the other Thus every finite moment, out of this and creates the relationship un-divine and anti-divine environment and a new forces are born. These guide human world. And helplessly destiny and deviate you from the divine you remain yoked to path and the truth. these.

Thus your mind is Dhritarashtra and your intellect is Gandhari. Every moment a myriad negativity is born in you that delude your truth vision. When personified these attract their counterpart in the other and creates the environment and a new world. And helplessly you remain yoked to these. Energy is dilapidated. Like a parasite these drain your energy, vitality and leave you completely neurotic.

This is the state of Dhritarashtra as he opens the Bhagavad Gita with the first sutra. Before the war of Mahabharata was about to begin and all efforts of peace were closed Dhritarashtra who was confident of the victory expressed his eagerness to witness the war.

Sage Veda Vyasa offered Dhritarashtra divine vision that would have made it possible for him to witness the entire proceedings of the war. Dhritarashtra refused the offer from the sage saying that it be bestowed upon his Page | 48

Quarterly International Journal – Gita Dhyan Sadhana charioteer Sanjaya. Thus the blind king missed the opportunity of transformation. Such is the state of human mind that operates through ignorance and ego.

Dhritarashtra represents ordinary human mind. Guided by ego and ignorance it remains engrossed in worldly affairs negating truth. It is never interested in enlightenment. Instead of seeking illumination such a mind shifts responsibilities on lesser intellect who acts as mere transmitting station out of memory. Sanjaya represents this transmitting station. Pundit implies this state. He is interested in business than illumining the person.

Such a mind in not a seeker and also does not follow that path. Remaining on the surface such mind is only interested in rituals not illumination.

However humanity shall remain grateful to the blind king whose initiative has created the situation for the message of Bhagavad Gita. It is he who has expressed the desire to know the entire proceedings at the battlefield of Kurushetra.

The message begins with an enquiry from the blind king. And this sutra is very significant for various reasons. It is the only sutra that blind king uttered. Ignorant as he was the blind king begins the enquiry with the word „Dharma‟. Choice of such a word was not in the hands of ego. Even the most ignorant and egoist is sometimes touched by the absolute consciousness.

But ego guided by ignorance negates such opportunities. Thus continues its journey of negation of truth. The blind king enquires:

Thus guided by the impending doom of destruction, That loomed over the mental horizon of the blind king Fear of destruction made the king restless Sleeplessly, he wandered in the dark meadows of his ignorance With all the windows of the mind shut, Light of truth could penetrate not.

He dwelled in his self – created castle of negation!

No ray of hope was in the offing!

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Quarterly International Journal – Gita Dhyan Sadhana His morbid consciousness, thus agitated, spoke: O Sanjaya! Spoke the turbulence of the king, Explain to me every details of this eternal – fratricidal war.

What did the sons of Pandu – (symbolizing the higher ideals?)

And my own children – (symbolizing the lower ones) do, All desirous to fight, arrayed in the holy war land of ‘Dharma’ and the ‘Kuru’ dynasty the harbinger of truth and dharma!

I am, indeed all anxious to know every detail!!!

Sutra 2

Sanjaya thus began his description of the battlefield Listen to me O! Blind king attentively I shall now, narrate to you the details, As I witness through my celestial vision.

Having seen the army of the Pandavas, thus arrayed Prince Duryodhana’s mind filled with fear Fear is the outcome of ignorance And ignorance is the ornament of ego Without ignorance, Ego ceases to exist And without ego, ignorance has no value no use Together ego and ignorance nourish and nurture A myriad negativity each finite moment!!!

‘Cause when the light absolute descends Ignorance disappears in the oblivion, And thus vanishes the ego too.

Thereafter, what remains is truth as light But in the absence, despondency, And agitation breeds in human mind And the chief of negativities, thus Expressed his doubts about his own strength to the teacher!

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Quarterly International Journal – Gita Dhyan Sadhana

By Taoshobuddha

T

he word yoga means ‘union’ in Sanskrit. We can think of the union occurring between the mind, body and spirit. And thus it aims at attaining inner oneness and harmony that ultimately becomes bliss.

What is commonly referred to as ‘yoga’ can be more accurately described by the Sanskrit word asana, which refers to the practice of physical postures?

Asana is only one of the ‘eight limbs of yoga’, the majority of which are more concerned with mental and spiritual wellbeing than physical activity. In the recent times however, the words asana and yoga are often used interchangeably.

Yoga aims to attain a state of total spiritual insight and tranquility. The word is associated with meditative practices in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism.

Within Hindu philosophy, the word yoga is used to refer to one of the six orthodox (āstika) schools of Hindu philosophy. Yoga in this sense is based on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, and is also known as Rāja Yoga to distinguish it from later schools. Patanjali’s system is discussed and elaborated upon in many classical Hindu texts, and has also been influential in Buddhism and Jainism.

The Bhagavad Gita introduces distinctions such as Jnana Yoga (‘yoga based on knowledge’) vs. Karma Yoga (‘yoga based on action’) and its various off shoots. It uses 18 different Yogas. However the text begins in unique way.

Unlike other texts no chapter heading is given in the beginning of the particular Krishna-Arjuna dialogue. And the end of the chapter the sage poet gives the name of chapter emerging out of the dialogue. In fact a real master does not know the topic. When the student is in front of the master, and he looks into the inner being of the disciple, then spontaneously the Page | 51

Quarterly International Journal – Gita Dhyan Sadhana message springs forth from the unknown and unknowable. In this process of communion the master is simply an instrument. However he is totally aware of this happening.

What is signified at the end of each chapter explains the nature and the content of the message.

` tTsidit ïImÑgvÌItasUpin;Tsu äüivÕaya< yaegZaaôe ïIk&:[ajuRns<vade Verily it begins with the primordial uncreated existential sound AUM. This signified the ultimate beginning. Not only that the syllable connects the master and disciple to the unknown and unknowable without which transcendence is not possible. Thus comes to the end…but what, you may wonder? Everything is said. But for you nothing is said as yet. The sage composer continues the further explanation. What comes to the end is indeed explained through the words that follow Aum Tats…? There is a sequence and the choice of the words for this.

The Bhagavad Gita is described as Upanishad. The word ‘Upanishad’ comes from the three words Upa-ni-Shad. ‘Upa’ implies to sit. ‘ni’ signifies – close and ‘shad’ is the verb that completes the meaning. The word literally means to ‘sit near me’. The mind fails to understand this. However this is the beginning of a process. ‘Sitting near me’ implies coming within the energy field that the master is. It requires trust and aspiration on the part of the seeker and it creates the subtle channels of communication to be possible.

Master is awareness – the inner flowering. In the East we have signified this with the opening of the petals of the lotus. When the petals of the flower open the subtle beauty and fragrance that was un-manifest and hidden up to now is suddenly released in the outer atmosphere. Captivated by this the bees and gather and the entire process of pollination etc. begins. Bees never hover around the bud. Veda Vyas thus initiates and signifies the process of inner growth through the word ‘Upanishad’.

This is followed by the second word ‘Brahma-Vidyaam’. This has two words ‘Brahma’ and ‘vidya’ that are poetically connected to create a musical symphony. Here the word ‘Brahma’ does not refer of Brahma the creator – the aspect of Trinity. Instead the word refers ‘Consciousness’. It implies to the scriptural injunction ‘Aham Brahasmi’ – ‘I am the ever expanding consciousness.’ Consciousness is not static. It is an expanding phenomenon Page | 52

Quarterly International Journal – Gita Dhyan Sadhana that goes on expanding within the energy field of an enlightened one. As consciousness expands and is freed from narrow boundaries of the mind and its dualities the seeker becomes more and more aware. And at the pinnacle awareness explodes into enlightenment. This is the process of transformation. This is the uniqueness of the Bhagavad Gita.

And the next word is ‘Yogshastre’, indeed the discipline of yoga. However in the Mahabharata, the goal of yoga is variously described as entering the world of Brahma, as Brahman, or as perceiving the Brahman or Atman that pervades all things and the entire cosmos.

In Bhagavad Gita Yoga is not used in its conventional meaning – yoga postures or asanas instead it refers to the methodology that removes all discordance, conflict, duality and thus leads to the process of unification.

And without this unification of body, mind, spirit is not possible for transcendence.

And the word the sage uses to explain all this is the outcome of a dialogue between Sri Krishna and Arjuna. It always happens that the name of the master precedes that of the disciple because it is the master who is capable to initiate the process of yoga – unification in the disciple. Thus the sage uses his own interpretation and words that this is what he has witnessed and therefore the message comes to an end. And these words are neither spoken

by Yogeshwar, nor, Arjuna, nor Sanjaya.

Dhrishrashtra does not come in the picture because he is insignificant. He spoke the first Sutra and that is all he is concerned with. Therefore these are the words of Sage himself.

` tTsidit ïImÑgvÌItasUpin;Tsu äüivÕaya< yaegZaaôe ïIk&:[ajuRns<vade Thus the sage classified the entire text into eighteen (18) chapters as the process of unification and inner harmony.

1. Arjuna Vishad Yoga 2. Sankhya Yoga 3. Karma Yoga 4. Gyan Karma Sanyas Yoga 5. Sanyas Yoga 6. Atma Sanyam Yoga Page | 53

Quarterly International Journal – Gita Dhyan Sadhana 7. Gyan Vigyan Yoga 8. Akshyar BrahmaYoga 9. Raj Vidya Raj guhya Yoga 10. Vibhooti Yoga 11. VishwaRoop Darshan Yoga 12. Bhakti Yoga 13. Kshetra kshetragya Vibhag Yoga 14. Guna-traya Vibhag Yoga 15. Purushottam Yoga 16. Daiva-Asuri Sampada Vibhaga Yoga 17. Shraddha Traya vibhagaYoga 18. Mokshya Sanyas Yoga Other systems of philosophy introduced in Hinduism during the medieval period are Bhakti Yoga, and Hatha Yoga.

Yoga as a word for a system of abstract meditation or mental abstraction it was introduced by Patanjali in the 2nd century BC. And in the process someone who practices yoga or follows the yoga philosophy with a high level of commitment is called a yogi or yogini.

The goals of yoga are varied and range from improving health to achieving Moksha. Within the Hindu monist schools of Advaita Vedanta, Shaivism and Jainism, the goal of yoga takes the form of Moksha, which is liberation from all worldly suffering and the cycle of birth and death (Samsara), at which point there is a realization of identity with the Supreme Brahman.

For the bhakti schools of Vaishnavism, bhakti or service to Svayam bhagavan itself may be the ultimate goal of the yoga process, where the goal is to enjoy an eternal relationship with Vishnu.

In Vedic Sanskrit, the term ‘yoga’ besides its literal meaning, the yoking or harnessing of oxen or horses or emotions and the tendencies, already has a figurative sense, where it takes the general meaning of ‘employment, use, application, and performance’. All further developments of the sense of this word are post-Vedic. A sense of ‘exertion, endeavor, zeal, and diligence’ is found in Epic Sanskrit.

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Quarterly International Journal – Gita Dhyan Sadhana The more technical sense of the term ‘yoga’, describing a system of meditation or contemplation with the aim of the cessation of mental activity and the attaining of a ‘supreme state’ arises with early Buddhism (5th century BC), and is later adopted in Vedanta philosophy by the 4th century BC. There are a great many compounds containing yoga in Sanskrit, many of them unrelated to the technical or spiritual sense the word has taken in Vedanta. Yoga in these words takes meanings such as ‘union, connection, contact’, or ‘method, application, or performance’.

For example, guṇá-yoga means ‘contact with a cord’; chakrá-yoga has a medical sense of ‘applying a splint or similar instrument by means of pulleys (in case of dislocation of the thigh)’; chandrá-yoga has the astronomical sense of ‘conjunction of the moon with a constellation’; puṃ-yoga is a grammatical term expressing ‘connection or relation with a man’, etc.

Many such compounds are also found in the wider field of religion. Thus, bhakti-yoga means ‘devoted attachment’ in the monotheistic Bhakti movement. The term kriyā-yoga has a grammatical sense, meaning ‘connection with a verb’. But the same compound is also given a technical meaning in the Yoga Sutras (2.1), designating the ‘practical’ aspects of the philosophy, i.e. the ‘union with the Supreme’ due to performance of duties in everyday life.

Techniques for experiencing higher states of consciousness in meditation were developed by the shramanic traditions and in the Upanishadic tradition.

While there is no clear evidence for meditation in pre-Buddhist early Brahminic texts, there is a view that formless meditation might have originated in the Brahminic tradition. This is based on strong parallels between Upanishadic cosmological statements and the meditative goals of the two teachers of the Buddha as recorded in early Buddhist texts. As well as some less likely possibilities, the view put forward is that cosmological statements in the Upanishads reflect a contemplative tradition, and it is concluded that the Nasadiya Sukta contains evidence for a contemplative tradition, even as early as the late Rig Vedic period.

The Vedic Samhitas contain references to ascetics, while ascetic practices (‘tapas’) are referenced in the Brāhmaṇas (900 to 500 BCE), early commentaries on the Vedas.

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Early Buddhism The more technical sense of the term ‘yoga’, describing a system of meditation with the aim of the cessation of mental activity and the attaining of a ‘supreme state’ arises with early Buddhism. The Buddhist texts are probably the earliest texts describing meditation techniques altogether. They describe meditative practices and states that existed before the Buddha, as well as those first developed within Buddhism.

In Hindu scripture, this sense of the term ‘yoga’ first appears in the middle Upanishads, such as the Katha Upanishad (ca. 400 BCE).

Shvetashvatara Upanishad mentions, ‘When earth, water fire, air and akasa arise, when the five attributes of the elements, mentioned in the books on yoga, become manifest then the yogi’s body becomes purified by the fire of yoga and he is free from illness, old age and death.’ (Verse 2.12).

More importantly in the following verse (2.13) it mentions, the ‘precursors of perfection in yoga’, namely lightness and healthiness of the body, absence of desire, clear complexion, pleasantness of voice, sweet odor and slight excretions.

Early Buddhism incorporated meditative absorption states. The most ancient sustained expression of yogic ideas is found in the early sermons of the Buddha. One key innovative teaching of the Buddha was that meditative absorption must be combined with liberating cognition.

There is a vast difference between the understanding of Buddha and that of Yoga. This is presented in early Brahminic texts and is striking. Buddha says meditative states alone are not an end. According to the Buddha, even the highest meditative state is not liberating. Instead of attaining a complete cessation of thought, some sort of mental activity must take place: a liberating cognition, based on the practice of the mindful awareness.

Buddha also departed from earlier yogic thought in discarding the early Brahminic notion of liberation at death. Liberation for the Brahminic yogin was thought to be the realization at death of a non-dual meditative state anticipated in life. In fact, old Brahminic metaphors for the liberation at death of the yogic adept (‘becoming cool,’ ‘going out’) were given a new meaning by the Buddha. Their point of reference became the sage who is liberated in life.

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Quarterly International Journal – Gita Dhyan Sadhana The Upanishads are also broadly philosophical treatises which postdate the Vedas and deal with the nature of the ‘soul’ and universe.

However, the origins of yoga are believed to be much older than that, stemming from the oral traditions of Yogis, where knowledge of Yoga was handed down from Guru (spiritual teacher) to Sishya (spiritual student) all the way back to the originators of Yoga, ‘the Rishis,’ who first began investigation into the nature of reality and man’s inner world.

Legend has it that knowledge of Yoga was first passed by Lord Shiva to his wife Parvati and from there into the lives of men. Vigyan Bhairav Tantra explains the entire system.

Kaivalya the ultimate in Yoga According to the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, the ultimate aim of Yoga is to reach ‘Kaivalya’ (emancipation or ultimate freedom). Kaivalya is the experience of one’s innermost being or ‘soul’ (the Purusha). Then one becomes free of chains of cause and effect (Karma) which tie us to continuous birth and rebirth - reincarnation. In Kaivalya one is said to exist in peace and tranquility having attained absolute awareness of the difference between the spiritual that is timeless, unchanging and free of sorrows, and the material which is not.

This is considered desirable as life is analyzed as ultimately full of sorrows and pain - even pleasure and joy leave pain and loss when they have gone as nothing in the material world is permanent.

Yoga is therefore a spiritual quest. However, along the path of yoga, the aspirant also gains health, happiness, tranquility and awareness which are indicators of progress and an encouragement to continue their practice.

Buddhism and other Eastern spiritual traditions use many techniques derived from Yoga.

The Paths of Yoga The Bhagavad Gita, enunciates four (4) main paths to reach ‘Kaivalya.’

There is the path of Knowledge (Jnana Marga) wherein one learns to Page | 57

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As you come to understand Krishna, you will see all this clearly.

Krishna’s whole effort is to prevent Arjuna from escaping. The whole Gita is against escapists. The whole Gita is against this act and emphasizes that the escapists are engaging in exactly the same madness as the people who keep holding on are, but from the opposite end.

Krishna is saying a very unique thing in the Gita, and it is that a sannyasin and a worldly person are not opposites, are not each other’s opposites. One doesn’t become a sannyasin by running away from the world; one becomes a sannyasin by waking up in the world. And if you wish to wake up, then wake up here! It makes no difference at all where you escape to. There is no special place for waking up. It can be done anywhere. There is no need to see any special kind of dream in order to let go of dreams. One can wake up from any kind of dream. ...the level that Krishna’s assertions are coming from is very rare, and they have hardly ever been understood from the same level as they are being said.

Inner War and Peace Osho’s Talks on Gita Translated from Hindi

discriminate between real and illusory. The path of Karma teaches selfless work and thus attain to Kaivalya. The path of devotion or Bhakti and the path of control of the mind (Yoga Marga), where in, all the activities of the mind and consciousness are studied and brought under control.

From these have emerged various paths of yoga which can be followed.

1. Raja yoga involves mastery of the mind and senses in Samadhi; essentially and is the advanced aspects of Patanjali’s astanga yoga.

2. Hatha yoga is the yoga of the will which involves cultivating ones energy to arouse Kundalini primarily by means of asana and pranayama.

3. Mantra yoga involves reciting sacred syllables to reach perfection.

4. Laya yoga involves absorption in god to experience ultimate bliss.

5. Bhakti yoga requires absolute devotion to god to achieve the ultimate goal.

6. Karma yoga achieves this through selfless work without thought of personal reward.

7. Jnana yoga is the yoga of knowledge cultivating the discrimination between spiritual reality and the illusion of the material world.

However there are no clear cut boundaries between these various paths and all draw on the practices and philosophy of the others. Effectively all paths have the same goal and ‘tread the same terrain.’

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Quarterly International Journal â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Gita Dhyan Sadhana

by Taoshobuddha

I

nterestingly sage Veda Vyas does not begin the narration of the Bhagavad Gita this way mentioning the chapter name in the beginning.

In the beginning of the text he has not purposefully used the word Arjuna Vishada Yoga. Even Krishna did not know what to speak to Arjuna.

And Arjuna enquires the inner state of the aspirant is revealed. Therefore this chapter is relevant for various reasons.

1. First it explains the inner state of man whose mind is divided and lives in dichotomy.

2. However there are two significant characters of diverse nature.

Dhritarashtra is not only blind but his approach is negative. He is not interested in transformation or in drinking the divine elixir and thus get transformed instead he is happy listening to the narration.

3. Then there is Arjuna the positive affirmation. He is the seeker who is ready to be transformed. And it is for such seeker a master appears.

The inner state of the master is determined by the inner state of the disciple. For an intelligent student the teacher has to explore his intelligence.

4. There are two lines of thought sequence and one methodology in the text of Bhagavad Gita. The Dhritarashtra â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Sanjaya sequence. This is the life negative sequence. The blind king could only understand the narrator Sanjaya. The other sequence is Krishna - Arjuna sequence.

Arjuna is ready to hear then the master Yogeshwara has to be prepared for the disciple.

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Quarterly International Journal – Gita Dhyan Sadhana The Sanjaya - Dhritarashtra sequence begins from the Sutra 1 of chapter 1 and Sanjaya finally gives his conclusion in the last sutra 78 of Chapter 18.

The Krishna – Arjuna sequence begins from the Sutra 21 of chapter 1 and ends with sutra 1, and 73 of Chapter 18. In sutra 1 Arjuna enquires while in sutra 73 he acknowledges transformation and picks up the Gandiva ready to fight. After this sutra Arjuna does not speak.

From the Sutra 2 of Chapter 18 Yogeshwara speaks non-stop and ends at sutra 72. The „Samvada‟ or dialogue is certainly between Sri Krishna and Arjuna but the Awareness is that of Sri Bhagavan and not that of Sri Krishna.

The methodology for transformation begins with Sutra 2 of chapter 2 and ends with the sutra 72 of the chapter 18. And in this last verse Sri Krishna addresses Arjuna as Partha in line one and as Dhananjaya in the next line.

This is significant. I will speak later on this aspect.

This wonderful tale of the Dhritarashtra is blind. And he opens the text with an enquiry. His enquiry represents his inner life negative approach. The king is blind however passion does not require physical sight. And not only that passion, desire anger, and ego does not disappear with the absence of physical sight. Although physically deprived of sight he continues to nourish his passion, ego, anger, and desires. None of these emotions arise in eyes instead these arise in the mind.

Medieval Bhakti poet Surdas destroyed his eyes believing that once his sight was gone, desire and passion would never arise in him again. But desire does not require eyes.

Desire arises out of the mind. Also passion never finishes this way. For the desire, agitation, passion etc. to vanish is Krishna-

Gita begins with a blind man’s curiosity. In fact, not even a single tale would be told in this world if there were no blind men. All the stories of this life begin with a blind man’s curiosity. A blind man wants to see what he cannot see. A deaf person wants to hear what he cannot hear. Even if all the sense-organs were lost, the desires hidden within the mind can never vanish.

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Quarterly International Journal – Gita Dhyan Sadhana Arjuna therapy.

This wonderful tale of the Gita begins with a blind man‟s curiosity. In fact, not even a single tale would be told in this world if there were no blind men.

All the stories of this life begin with a blind man‟s curiosity. A blind man wants to see what he cannot see. A deaf person wants to hear what he cannot hear. Even if all the sense-organs were lost, the desires hidden within the mind can never vanish.

From the very beginning Dhritarashtra is blind, and yet sitting miles away from the battlefield, his mind continues to be plagued with curiosity, and eagerness. His mind is troubled and anxious to know what is happening on the battlefield.

Dhritarashtra represents the mind of negation. And mind is always born blind. It is the intellect that comes to assist the mind in the moments of indecisiveness. Intellect is the guiding principle behind the mind. The problem gets further complicated when intellect assumes voluntary blindness. This is metaphor in Dhritarashtra-Gandhari combination.

Out of the blind mind–intellect combination of Dhritarashtra–Gandhari myriad negativities are born as one hundred sons. This too is metaphor. And the children born of a blind person can never have any real vision even though they may have physical eyes. Those who are born of blind parents – and perhaps generally speaking people are born of blind parents – they may have physical eyes, but it is difficult for them to gain inner sight.

Therefore it is not surprising to understand that the one hundred sons of Dhritarashtra were acting blindly in every sense. They had outer, physical eyes but not inner ones. One who is blind can only beget blindness. And yet, this father is curious to know what is happening.

One should also note what Dhritarashtra is enquiring and why. Thus the text begins with this sutra by the blind king.

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Thus guided by the impending doom of destruction, That loomed over the mental horizon of the blind king Fear of destruction made the king restless Sleeplessly, he wandered in the dark meadows of his ignorance With all the windows of the mind shut, Light of truth could penetrate not.

He dwelled in his self–created castle of negation!

No ray of hope was in the offing!

His morbid consciousness, thus agitated, spoke: O Sanjaya! Spoke the turbulence of the king, Explain to me every details of this eternal – fratricidal war.

What did the sons of Pandu – [symbolizing the higher ideals?]

And my own children – [symbolizing the lower ones] do, All desirous to fight, arrayed in the holy war land of ‘Dharma’ and the ‘Kuru’ dynasty the harbinger of truth and dharma!

I am, indeed all anxious to know every detail!!!

Sutra 2

Sanjaya thus began his description of the battlefield Listen to me, O! Blind king, attentively I shall now, narrate to you the details, As I witness through my celestial vision.

Having seen the army of the Pandavas, thus arrayed Prince Duryodhana’s mind filled with fear Fear is the outcome of ignorance And ignorance is the ornament of ego Without ignorance, Ego ceases to exist And without ego, ignorance has no value no use Page | 62

Quarterly International Journal – Gita Dhyan Sadhana Together ego and ignorance nourish and nurture A myriad negativity each finite moment!!!

‘Cause when the light absolute descends Ignorance disappears in the oblivion, And thus vanishes the ego too.

Thereafter, what remains is truth as light But in the absence, despondency, And agitation breeds in human mind And the chief of negativities, thus Expressed his doubts about his own strength to the teacher!

The first word that the sage uses through the blind king is „Dharmakshetre‟ or field of righteousness. The field of righteousness ceases to exist the day people gather to fight a war. The day fighting becomes imperative the possibility of any religiousness surviving in this world comes to an end. All peace proposal of Krishna were categorically rejected by the Prince Duryodhana. All the senior members including the King, the teacher Dronacharya, guru Kripacharya and the grandsire Bhishma were standing helpless in the court when Duryodhana was ready to capture Krishna.

The pious minister Vidur has already cleared him of any obligation and consequence of the war. The conflict that was brewing secretly within the blind king surfaces through Duryodhana. All avenues of peace and reconciliation were closed. Thus, at one time it may have been a field of righteousness, of religion, but now it is not. Unrighteousness has set in. And it is the promise of the Yogeshwara that for unrighteousness he assumes human form. Now, people who are eager to fight this fierce battle and kill one another have gathered at the very place that is known as dharmakshetra – the field of righteousness.

However such a beginning is really extraordinary. It is also extraordinary in the sense that now it will be very hard to figure out what must be happening on the fields of unrighteousness, or irreligiousness. And if this is what happening on the field of righteousness then what can indeed be expected on this field of righteousness if Dhritarashtra is already asking Sanjay: “I want to know what my sons and their opponents, who are eager for war, are doing”?

Perhaps so far no field of righteousness has yet been created on this earth.

If it had been, then war would no longer be a possibility. But when the Page | 63

Quarterly International Journal – Gita Dhyan Sadhana possibility of war still exists, and when even a field of righteousness is turned into a battlefield, then how can we blame or criticize the unrighteous or the non-religious ones?

The truth is that perhaps there have been fewer wars on the fields of unrighteousness than on the fields of righteousness, of religion. If we were to Do not think this way or let think in terms of war and bloodshed, then any priest convince you that fields of righteousness would look more like this is Kaliyug and that is why fields of unrighteousness than the actual fields of unrighteousness do. Most of the such things are happening wars that history of human civilization has only now. This is Holy Cow witnessed are the outcome of the improper Dung. The temples and understanding of the religiousness. mosques have become It is erroneous that the wars mentioned in playfields of wars and other scriptures the Mahabharata or Ramayana criminal activities not only have taken place in religious domains. And today. But thousands of it is only now the wars are unrighteous.

Do not think this way or let any priest convince you that this is Kaliyug and that is why such things are happening only now.

This is Holy Cow Dung. The temples and mosques have become playfields of wars and other criminal activities not only today.

But thousands of years ago – when it is generally believed that good people lived on this earth, and a wonderful person like Krishna was present – even then people had gathered to fight on the religious fields of the Kuru.

years ago – when it is generally believed that good people lived on this earth, and a wonderful person like Krishna was present – even then people had gathered to fight on the religious fields of the Kuru.

There is deep rooted greed, and insatiable quest for war in man. This deeply ingrained desire for destruction, and the hidden animal instincts within remains with man even on the fields of righteousness. Even this animal makes preparations for war.

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Quarterly International Journal – Gita Dhyan Sadhana It is good to remember this, and also to remember that fighting becomes even more dangerous when it comes from behind the shield of religion – because then it seems justified.

So, this religious scripture begins with the blind king Dhritarashtra‟s curiosity. All religious scriptures begin with some blind man‟s curiosity. In fact the day there are no blind in this world, there will not be need for any religious scriptures. So here he is, this blind man who is being curious.

Doubts have consistently been raised about the authority of Sanjaya, and this is natural. From far away Sanjaya is reporting to Dhritarashtra about what is happening at the battlefield of Kurukshetra.

Yoga has always believed that the eyes we see with are not our only eyes.

Man also has another eye, which can see beyond time and space. But just because yoga says this, it may not necessarily be the case that what Sanjaya reports will be totally right. A doubt arises in the mind: how can Sanjay see across such a long distance sitting in the court room? Is he omniscient? No he is not omniscient. And first of all, the power to see and hear from far is not really such a great thing. It has nothing to do with being omniscient. It is a very modest energy and anyone can develop it with a little effort. And sometimes it happens that as a result of some coincidence in nature this power develops in someone of its own accord.

There are powers hidden within the eyes, which can see beyond time and space. But these powers have nothing to do with spirituality.

So it is not that Sanjaya is some kind of spiritual man. He is certainly special. He is able to see what is going on far away on the battleground. And it is not that he has attained to the realization or enlightenment because of this. He is not even reported to have transformed after narrating the entire message of Krishna. On the contrary, it is possible that Sanjaya may have sabotaged himself completely by using this power.

This often happens. Extraordinary powers can lead people completely astray.

That is why yoga has consistently maintained that whether they are common physical powers or psychic powers of the mind, one who gets entangled in these powers can never attain to the truth.

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Quarterly International Journal – Gita Dhyan Sadhana However, what Sanjaya did is possible. Recently, within the last one hundred years in the West, a great deal of work has been undertaken in psychic research. So now no one has any reason to doubt Sanjaya – not even on scientific grounds. Now psychologists are admitting that there are endless powers contained within man.

When the human mind is As a result of man traveling into space, suffering from an inferiority psychologists began working in a new field. complex, when internally the It is no longer possible to depend human mind considers itself completely on machines: particularly when people are sent to travel in space, a terrible inferior, then one always risk is involved. Any slight defect in the begins by talking about one’s equipment will disconnect the contact with own greatness. But, when the base forever. And then it would be impossible to trace these lost travellers. The the person is not ridden with space is infinite therefore we would never inferiority, talk always begins be able to locate them. Neither we can with the mention of others’ know whether they were alive or dead or how will they survive in the outer space greatness. once the food is finished. That is why the scientists are anxiously working in their laboratories to develop a substitute system that will enable us to see across a long distance and hear and send messages without the help of technology.

Sanjay is not a particularly spiritual man however he does have a special power that we all possess and which can be developed.

In the Sutra 2-10 Sanjaya gives the description of Duryodhana‟s mind. Here Duryodhana is telling Dronacharya about great commanders and profound warriors have come together in the Pandavas‟ army. Such beginning of Duryodhana is highly symbolic. Generally, the talk does not begin with praising the enemy. Instead generally the talk begins with ridiculing the enemy, and praising oneself in comparison with the enemy. But here, Duryodhana begins his talk by identifying the heroes who have assembled on the Pandava side. This shows that whatever else Duryodhana may be, he is certainly not a man with an inferiority complex.

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Quarterly International Journal – Gita Dhyan Sadhana When the human mind is suffering from an inferiority complex, when internally the human mind considers itself inferior, then one always begins by talking about one‟s own greatness. But, when the person is not ridden with inferiority, talk always begins with the mention of others‟ greatness.

It is very interesting that even a good man who is suffering from an inferiority complex is worse than a bad man who is not suffering from such complex. Only the person who is confident in himself can begin by praising others. This is one very fundamental difference that has taken place over the past centuries. Before, too, there were bad as well as good people – and it is not that today the number of bad people has increased and the number of good people has decreased. Today, the proportion of good and bad people is also similar. So what change has really taken place?

The custodians of religion propagate the idea that in the old days people were good and now they have become bad. This assertion is fundamentally wrong. There have always been good people and there have always been bad people. There has to be a balance between the two. The difference that has occurred between then and now is not so peripheral rather, it goes much deeper. In the past, even a bad person was not suffering from an inferiority complex. However, today even a good person is suffering from the inferiority complex. And this makes the difference.

Today, even the best man is only good on the surface. Inside, even he is not sure of himself. Remember when a person is unsure of himself his goodness cannot last for long. It is only skin-deep. A small stone is thrown and even the surface will become ugly. And if a bad person is self-confident, in spite of his evil he can be transformed any day – because a very crystallized quality of goodness lies at the depth and this is the quality of self-confidence. This is the reason a robber Ratnakar became sage Valmiki.

It is very significant that a bad man like Duryodhana begins his talk praising the enemy camp. He mentions the good qualities of his opponents first, and then he describes the heroes in his own army.

Om Tat Sat….

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Quarterly International Journal â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Gita Dhyan Sadhana

The mind and the modern man

A

s an individual you are living in a scientific age. This is the age of dynamism where everything is moving at a tremendous pace or high velocity.

In the age of dynamism all progress and growth is measured in terms of scientific Mind, therefore is the most advancements. All this leads man to important faculty both for remain entangled in a world of inner and outer lives. Mind activities where everything deludes acts as a filter through and enchants. which various impulses No one is sure in what direction life is heading for; right or wrong; selfelevation or self-gratification. On one hand these scientific advancements have given much comfort for you to live in this world of impermanency.

However on the other hand these have taken away peace and serenity that you rightfully deserve but do not have.

arise as an interaction between various sense organs and the outer world.

These impulses of physical, mental, intellectual, and spiritual consciousness determine the behavioural patterns of life.

There is an unending quest to acquire more and more. And this serenity of the inner being is replaced by the agitations of the mind. Such is the situation of the man as despondent one with minds filled with agitations and a constant pursuit to acquire more and more.

You as an individual have forgotten to realize who you are. And what is the purpose in life? While living in the world and constantly engaging in material pursuits man has lost control on his mind, and touch with the inner self.

Caught up in this web is modern man you.

Your situation is like the one who is served with delicious food on a big platter. He has one morsel in his mouth bigger than the capacity of the mouth. In the hand he has another morsel and the eyes are fixed on what is on the platter. Isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t it the true picture?

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Quarterly International Journal â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Gita Dhyan Sadhana In simple words this example gives the picture of the modern being engaged in an insatiable quest to acquire more and more. And in doing so you do not enjoy what you have in your possession; instead you remain bothered about what you do not have. This constantly agitates the mind. With an agitated mind you cannot lead a successful outer life or continue the inward journey.

And if you aspire to live an eternal life of serenity and contentment, your mind deceives, and beclouds the manifestation of Mind clothes its truth. desires and preferences with all Mind, therefore is the most important kinds of wonderful faculty both for inner and outer lives. Mind intentions and it acts as a filter through which various hides its trickeries, impulses arise as an interaction between resentments and various sense organs and the outer world. disappointments These impulses of physical, mental, under the most intellectual, and spiritual consciousness favourable determine the behavioural patterns of life. appearances.

On the other hand soul is self-existent being with infinite force of consciousness and unconditional delight and effulgence.

Consciousness too interacts and reflects but only through a tranquil mind.

When this process becomes a continuum, you are at the threshold of a new life, a new beginning that will unfold into an infinite realm of bliss, contentment and serenity beyond all finiteness.

But the mind has the power of deception in its own way to unlimited quantum. Mind clothes its desires and preferences with all kinds of wonderful intentions and it hides its trickeries, resentments and disappointments under the most favourable appearances.

To overcome all that you must have the fearlessness of a true warrior, an honesty, straight forwardness and sincerity that never fail.

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Quarterly International Journal – Gita Dhyan Sadhana

Taoshobuddha

T

his is one of the Dhyana Shlokas or prayers to be recited before one commences with the recitation of the Bhagavad Gita. The Dhyana Shlokas are as important as the Gita itself, as it a humble prayer to the great souls who gave us this precious, divine work.

‘O Sacred Mother Bhagavad Gita!

Thou art the One who was imparted to Arjuna by none other than Lord Narayana Himself, and was recorded during the time of the Mahabharata by the great sage Vyasa.

Thou art the one who showers the nectar of the Advaita philosophy.

Thou art adorned in ornaments made of eighteen precious gems.

Humbly I bow to Thee, O Divine Mother, the Destroyer of Samsara.’

The Bhagavad Gītā - Sanskrit: ïImd -gvd gIta - Song of God, popularly known as Gita. It is a 700-verse Hindu scripture that is part of the ancient Hindu epic, the Mahabharata, but is frequently treated as an independent text.

The Gita stand out as an incomparably brilliant gem. The Bhagavad Gita, thus, not only propounds the theory of Advaita to the maximum, but it also states that all His creations in this Universe are also co-creators, who help Him achieve His mission! It is considered among the most important texts in the history of literature and philosophy.

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Quarterly International Journal – Gita Dhyan Sadhana This attitude of the Gita takes into consideration all practical aspects of life, without relying wholly and solely on the karma theory of pantheism. This aspect acknowledges the presence of God residing in everything and in all things and all beings - good and evil, darkness and light and so on.

The teacher of the Bhagavad Gita is Lord Krishna, who is revered by Hindus as a manifestation of Bhagavan Vishnu - Parabrahman Himself, and is referred to within the text as Bhagavan, the Divine One. The context of the Gita is a conversation between Lord Krishna and the Pandava prince Arjuna, taking place on the battlefield before the beginning of the war at Kurukshetra. Responding to Arjuna‟s moral dilemma and inner conflict about fighting his own cousins, Lord Krishna explains to Arjuna his duties as a warrior and prince, and elaborates on different Yogic and Vedantic philosophies, with examples and analogies.

This has led to the Gita often being described as a concise guide to Hindu theology and also as a practical, self-contained guide to life. And this is what Bhagavad Gita has meant to you.

During the discourse, Lord Krishna reveals His identity as the Supreme Being Himself, blessing Arjuna with an awe-inspiring vision of His Divine Cosmic Form.

This has led to the Gita often being described as a concise guide to Hindu theology and also as a practical, selfcontained guide to life.

The direct audience to Lord Krishna‟s discourse of the Bhagavad Gita included Arjuna to whom it is addressed, Sanjaya who learns about it divine vision bestowed by the sage Veda Vyasa to watch events at the war and narrate the same to Dhritarashtra, Lord Hanuman who is perched atop Arjuna‟s chariot as insignia, and Barbarika, son of Ghatotkacha, who also witnessed the complete 18 days of action at Kurukshetra.

The Bhagavad Gita as Gītopaniṣad The Bhagavad Gita is also called Gītopaniṣad as has been described by the sage poet and the composer. It was he who coined this word for Bhagavad Gita. This word is used at the end of each chapter. The word implies Gita having the status of an Upanishad. Indeed it is a Vedantic scripture. As a result it is also given the status of an Upanishad - a Śruti or ‘revealed’ text.

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Quarterly International Journal – Gita Dhyan Sadhana Since the Gita is drawn from the Mahabharata, it is classified also as a ‘Smṛiti text’ – part of the memory of the sage. The Bhagavad Gita represents the epitome of the Upanishadic teachings. Furthermore it is also called „the Upanishad of the Upanishads‟. It is also called Mokṣhaśāstra, or „Scripture of Liberation‟.

It has been highly recognized by not only prominent Indians such as Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi but also Aldous Huxley, Albert Einstein, J. Robert Oppenheimer, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Carl Gustav Jung and Herman Hesse.

The Bhagavad Gita and the Mahabharata Since The Bhagavad Gita occurs in the Bhishma Parva of the Mahabharata and comprises 18 chapters from the 25th through 42nd spread through 700 Sutras it cannot be separated from the original text as far as the historical background is concerned. It is traditionally ascribed to Sage Veda Vyasa, who composed the Mahabharata. Because of differences in counting, the verses of the Gita may be numbered in the full text of the Mahabharata as chapters 6.25–42 or as chapters 6.23–40.

According to the commentary of the Gita by Shankaracharya, the number of verses is 700, but there is evidence that old manuscripts had 745 verses.

The verses used the range and style of Sanskrit metre (Chhandas) with similes and metaphors, are written in a poetic form that is traditionally chanted and recited.

As with all of the Mahabharata, the text of the Gītā cannot be dated with certainty.

Astrologers calculate the Bhagavad Gita traditionally being given circa 3000 BCE based purely on Sri Krishna‟s horoscope. However there is no scientific support.

The entire epic went through a lengthy process of accumulation and redaction during the 5th century BCE to the 5th century CE. Scholars have placed the composition of the Gītā within the earlier phase of this period, between the 5th and the 2nd century BCE. More recent scholars have doubted the early date of the Gītā. However some scholars prefer to place it in the early centuries of the Common Era instead. Thus, John Brockington (1998) argues that the Gītā can be placed in the first century CE. Based on claims of differences in the poetic styles, some scholars have argued that the Bhagavad Gītā was added to the Mahābhārata at a later date.

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Quarterly International Journal â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Gita Dhyan Sadhana In the Bhagavad Gita itself, Lord Krishna states that this knowledge of Yoga contained in the Gita was first instructed to mankind at the very beginning of their existence by me. Therefore, the history and chronology of Bhagavad Gita may be taken to be clear from the text itself, by its adherents. Although it may seem to some that the original date of composition of the Bhagavad Gita is not clear.

Nevertheless its teachings are considered timeless and the exact time of revelation of the scripture is considered of little spiritual significance by religious. Swami Vivekananda dismisses concerns about differences of opinion regarding the historical events as unimportant for study of the Gita from the point of acquirement of Dharma. There may be controversies over its historicity however its existential nature is beyond all mental comprehension.

The Bhagavad Gita forms the part of the Mahabharata that centers on the accomplishments of the Pandavas and the Kauravas, two families of royal cousins descended from two brothers, Pandu and Dhritrashtra, respectively. Because Dhritrashtra was born blind, Pandu inherited the ancestral kingdom, comprising a part of northern India around modern Delhi. The Pandava brothers were five in number. Yudhishthira is the eldest, followed by Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula, and Sahadeva. The Kaurava brothers were one hundred in number, Duryodhana being the eldest. When Pandu died at an early age, his young children were placed under the care of their uncle Dhritrashtra who ascended the throne since the Pandavas were minors.

Swami Vivekananda dismisses concerns about differences of opinion regarding the historical events as unimportant for study of the Gita from the point of acquirement of Dharma. There may be controversies over its historicity however its existential nature is beyond all mental comprehension.

The Pandavas and the Kauravas were brought up together in the same household and had the same teachers, the most notable of whom were grandsire Bhishma and Dronacharya. Bhishma, the wise grandsire, acted as their chief guardian, and the Brahmin Drona was their military instructor. The Pandavas were endowed with righteousness, self-control, nobility, and many other knightly traits. On the other hand, the hundred sons of Dhritarashtra, especially Duryodhana, were endowed with negative qualities and were cruel, unrighteous, unscrupulous, greedy, and lustful. Duryodhana was jealous of his five cousins. Therefore he engineered various means to destroy them.

When the time came to crown Yudhisthira, eldest of the Pandavas, as prince, Duryodhana, through a fixed game of dice tricked, to exile the Pandavas into the Page | 73

Quarterly International Journal – Gita Dhyan Sadhana forest. On their return from banishment the Pandavas demanded the return of their legitimate kingdom. Duryodhana, who had consolidated his power by many alliances, refused to restore their legal and moral rights. Attempts by elders and Krishna, who was a friend of the Pandavas and also a well-wisher of the Kauravas, to resolve the issue failed. Nothing would satisfy Duryodhana‟s inordinate greed.

Peace proposal of Sri Krishna was rejected. War became inevitable. Both Duryodhana and Arjuna requested Krishna to support them in the war, since he possessed the strongest army, and was revered as the wisest teacher and the greatest yogi. Krishna offered to give his vast army to one of them and to become a charioteer and counselor for the other, but he would not touch any weapon nor participate in the battle in any manner. While Duryodhana chose Krishna‟s vast army, Arjuna preferred to have Krishna as his charioteer. The whole realm responded to the call of the Pandavas and the Kauravas. The kings, princes, and knights of India with their armies assembled on the sacred plain of Kurukshetra.

The blind king Dhritrashtra wished to follow the progress of the battle. The sage Vyasa offered to endow him with supernatural sight, but the king refused the boon, for he felt that the sight of the destruction of those near and dear to him would be too much to bear. Thereupon, Vyasa bestowed supernatural sight on Sanjaya, who was to act as reporter to Dhritrashtra. The Gita opens with the question of the blind king to Sanjaya regarding what happened on the battlefield when the two armies faced each other in battle array.

The Bhagavad Gita begins before the start of the climactic battle at Kurukshetra, with the Pandava prince Arjuna becoming filled with doubt on the battlefield.

Realizing that his enemies are his own relatives, beloved friends, and revered teachers, he turns to his charioteer and guide, Krishna, for advice.

In summary the main philosophical subject matter of the Bhagavad Gita is the explanation of five basic concepts or „truths‟: 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Ishvara - The Supreme Controller – the Cosmic Being Jiva - Living beings or the individualized soul Prakrti - Nature or Matter Dharma - Duty in accordance with Divine law Kaala – Time

Krishna counsels Arjuna on the greater idea of dharma, or universal harmony and duty. He begins with the tenet that the soul - Atman is eternal and immortal and indestructible. Any „death‟ on the battlefield would involve only the shedding of the body, whereas the soul is permanent. Arjuna‟s hesitation stems from a lack of accurate understanding of the „nature of things,‟ the privileging of the unreal over the real. His fear and hesitance become impediments to the proper balancing of Page | 74

Quarterly International Journal – Gita Dhyan Sadhana the universal dharmic order. Essentially, Arjuna wishes to abandon the battle, to abstain from action. Krishna warns, however, that without action, the cosmos would fall out of order and truth would be obscured.

In order to clarify his point, Krishna expounds the various Yoga processes and understanding of the true nature of the universe. Krishna describes the yogic paths of devotional service, action, meditation and knowledge. Fundamentally, the Bhagavad Gita proposes that true enlightenment comes from growing beyond identification with the temporal ego, the „False Self‟, the ephemeral world, so that one identifies with the truth of the immortal self, the absolute soul or Atman.

Through detachment from the material sense of ego, the Yogi, or follower of a particular path of Yoga, is able to transcend his or her illusory mortality and attachment to the material world and enter the realm of the Supreme.

Krishna does not propose that the physical world must be forgotten or neglected.

Rather, one‟s life on Earth must be lived in accordance with greater laws and truths one must embrace one‟s earthly duties whilst remaining mindful of timeless reality, acting for the sake of service without consideration for the results thereof.

Such a life would naturally lead towards stability, happiness and, ultimately, and enlightenment.

To demonstrate his divine nature, Krishna grants Arjuna the boon of cosmic vision and allows Arjuna to see his „Universal Form‟ (this occurs in the eleventh chapter).

He reveals that he is fundamentally both the ultimate essence of Being in the universe and also its material body, called the Vishvarupa – „Cosmic Form‟.

In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna refers to the war about to take place as „Dharma Yuddha‟, meaning a righteous war for the purpose of justice. In Chapter 4, Krishna states that he incarnates in each age (yuga) to establish righteousness in the world.

In Sri Aurobindo‟s view, Krishna was a historical figure, but his significance in the Gita is as a „symbol of the divine dealings with humanity‟, while Arjuna symbolizes a „struggling human soul.‟ However, Aurobindo rejects the interpretation that the Gita, and the Mahabharata by extension, is „an allegory of the inner life, and has nothing to do with our outward human life and actions‟: “...That is a view which the general character and the actual language of the epic does not justify and, if pressed, would turn the straightforward philosophical language of the Gita into a constant, laborious and somewhat puerile mystification....the Gita is written in plain terms and professes to solve the great ethical and spiritual difficulties which the life of man raises, and it will not do to go behind this plain language and thought and wrest them to the service of our fancy.

But there is this much of truth in the view, that the setting of the doctrine though not symbolical, is certainly typical....”

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Quarterly International Journal – Gita Dhyan Sadhana The Gita consists of eighteen chapters in total: Arjuna requests Krishna to move his chariot between the two armies. When Arjuna sees his relatives on the opposing army side of the Kurus, he loses morale and decides not to fight.

After asking Krishna for help, Arjuna is instructed that only the body may be killed, as he was worried if it would become a sin to kill people (including his gurus and relatives), while the eternal self is immortal. Krishna appeals to Arjuna that, as a warrior, he has a duty to uphold the path of dharma through warfare.

Arjuna asks why he should engage in fighting if knowledge is more important than action. Krishna stresses to Arjuna that performing his duties for the greater good, but without attachment to results, is the appropriate course of action.

Krishna reveals that he has lived through many births, always teaching Yoga for the protection of the pious and the destruction of the impious and stresses the importance of accepting a guru.

Arjuna asks Krishna if it is better to forgo action or to act „renunciation or discipline of action‟. Krishna answers that both ways may be beneficent, but that acting in Karma Yoga is superior.

Krishna describes the correct posture for meditation and the process of how to achieve Samādhi.

Krishna teaches the path of knowledge (Jnana Yoga).

Krishna defines the terms brahman, adhyatma, karma, atman, adhibhuta and adhidaiva and explains how one can remember him at the time of death and attain his supreme abode.

Krishna explains pantheism, „all beings are in me‟ as a way of remembering him in all circumstances.

Krishna describes how he is the ultimate source of all material and spiritual worlds.

Arjuna accepts Krishna as the Supreme Being, quoting great sages who have also done so.

On Arjuna‟s request, Krishna displays his „universal form‟ (Viśvarūpa), a theophany of a being facing every way and emitting the radiance of a thousand suns, containing all other beings and material in existence.

Krishna describes the process of devotional service (Bhakti Yoga), nature (prakrti), the enjoyer (purusha) and consciousness, the three modes (gunas) of material Page | 76

Quarterly International Journal – Gita Dhyan Sadhana nature. Krishna describes a symbolic tree (representing material existence), its roots in the heavens and its foliage on earth. Krishna explains that this tree should be felled with the „axe of detachment‟, after which one can go beyond to his supreme abode.

Krishna tells of the human traits of the divine and the demonic natures. He counsels that to attain the supreme destination one must give up lust, anger and greed, discern between right and wrong action by discernment through Buddhi and evidence from scripture and thus act correctly.

Krishna tells of three divisions of faith and the thoughts, deeds and even eating habits corresponding to the three gunas.

In conclusion, Krishna asks Arjuna to abandon all forms of dharma and simply surrender unto him. He describes this as the ultimate perfection of life.

Thus The Gita addresses the discord between the senses and the intuition of cosmic order. It speaks of the Yoga of equanimity, a detached outlook. The term Yoga covers a wide range of meanings, but in the context of the Bhagavad Gita, describes a unified outlook, serenity of mind, skill in action and the ability to stay attuned to the glory of the Self (Atman) and the Supreme Being (Bhagavan). According to Krishna, the root of all suffering and discord is the agitation of the mind caused by selfish desire. The only way to douse the flame of desire is by simultaneously stilling the mind through self-discipline and engaging oneself in a higher form of activity.

However, abstinence from action is regarded as being just as detrimental as extreme indulgence.

According to the Bhagavad Gita, the goal of life is to free the mind and intellect from their complexities and to focus them on the glory of the Self by dedicating one‟s actions to the divine.

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Quarterly International Journal – Gita Dhyan Sadhana This goal can be achieved through the Yogas of meditation, action, devotion and knowledge. In the sixth chapter, Krishna describes the best Yogi as one who constantly meditates upon him – which is understood to mean thinking of either Krishna personally, or the supreme Brahman – with different schools of Hindu thought giving varying points of view.

Thus Krishna summarizes the Yogas through eighteen chapters. Three yogas in particular have been emphasized by almost all the commentators: Bhakti Yoga or Devotion, Karma Yoga or Selfless Action and Jnana Yoga or Self Transcending Knowledge.

The Gita Dhyan Sadhana begins from here. First you have to attain to the state of innocence because your so called understanding or knowledge has not led to inner flowering.

Simply it has crystalized your ego that you know your scriptures. The inward journey into the realm of Srimad Bhagavad Gita begins in a totally different way.

While each path differs, their fundamental goal is the same – to realize Brahman (the Divine Essence) as being the ultimate truth upon which our material universe rests, that the body is temporal, and that the Supreme Soul (Paramatman) is infinite. Yoga's aim (moksha) is to escape from the cycle of reincarnation through realization of the ultimate reality. There are three stages to self-realization enunciated from the Bhagavad Gita:

1. Brahman – The impersonal universal energy 2. Paramatma – The Supreme Soul sitting in the heart of every living entity.

3. Bhagavan – God as a personality, with a transcendental form.

This is how you have known the message if Bhagavad Gita. The Gita Dhyan Sadhana begins from here. First you have to attain to the state of innocence because your so called understanding or knowledge has not led to inner flowering.

Simply it has crystalized your ego that you know your scriptures. The inward journey into the realm of Srimad Bhagavad Gita begins in a totally different way.

Thus begins The Journal of Gita Dhyan Sadhana.

Om Tat Sat!

Taoshobuddha

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Quarterly International Journal – Gita Dhyan Sadhana

Gita – Mystical Insights Swami Anand Neelambar “We of the coming day stand at the head of a new age of development….We do not belong to past dawns, but to the noons of the future…”

“The Gita is not a treatise of metaphysical philosophy, in spite of the great mass of metaphysical ideas which arise incidentally in its pages: for here no metaphysical truth is brought into expression solely for its own sake. It seeks the highest truth for the highest practical utility, not for intellectual or even for spiritual satisfaction, but as the truth that saves and opens to us the passage from our present mortal imperfection to an immortal perfection.”

Essays on the Gita – Sri Aurobindo

I have always been fascinated by the Gita and its „seeming inconsistencies‟.

I consider it a work that resolves the paradox of life. The Gita has been described as “an enchanting impossibility” by Swami Chinmayanda. It is at once a science and a philosophy, and yet it is neither a scientific philosophy, nor a philosophical science. It explains the science of life and at the same time, the philosophy of living.

I have read the Gita several times and each time some new, fresh, deeper meaning is revealed. In my studies of the Gita, I have found that each verse has a multitude of meanings and can be interpreted variously to fit any context. This has made it a weapon of offence and defense against other schools and systems. However, the Gita is not a weapon for dialectical warfare; it is a gate opening on the whole world of spiritual truth and experience and the view it gives us embraces all the provinces of that supreme region. It maps out, but it does not cut up or build walls or hedges to confine our vision....Our object, then, in studying the Gita will not be a scholastic nor academic scrutiny of its thought, or to place its philosophy in the history of metaphysical speculation, nor shall we deal with it in the manner of the analytical dialectician. We approach it for help and light and

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Quarterly International Journal – Gita Dhyan Sadhana our aim must be to distinguish it’s essential and living message, that in it on which humanity has seize for its perfection and its highest spiritual welfare.”

This journal is entitled Gita Dhyan Sadhana and though our main focus shall be the Bhagavad Gita of Sri Krishna, it is in no way confined to that particular text. Gita means an overflowing song. When a Master attains to realization of the self, whatever he speaks is a Gita. It is an eternal song coming from the depths of his being which is now the same source as the cosmos.

Now an insight into Bhagavad Gita! Have Gita means an overflowing song. you ever considered how long it took When a Master attains to Krishna to recite the Gita to Arjuna? It is realization of the self, whatever he speaks is a Gita. It is an eternal not physically possible that Krishna could song coming from the depths of his have narrated the text that has come to being which is now the same source be known as Bhagavad Gita, to Arjuna, in as the cosmos. the time frame of the impending war. And I say that it is physically not possible because, it is possible on a mystical dimension. The Gita would have been revealed to Arjuna in a dimension beyond the space-time continuum. A state of turiya – the fourth dimension of consciousness!

Also it is my profound insight that Krishna did not speak any words to Arjuna. What transpired between them was a transmission beyond words. A silent communion as happened between Mahakashyapa and Buddha.

The story goes that once Buddha came for his morning discourse, everybody was puzzled. He had never carried anything in his hands, and today for the first time he was carrying a beautiful lotus flower. They were all waiting with excitement for what he was going to say, but he did not say anything. On the contrary, he simply went on gazing at the lotus flower for one and a half hours. Everybody was puzzled, disappointed: “What is going on?” And at that moment, Mahakashyapa, after twenty years of silence, laughed so loudly. At his laughter, Buddha called him close to him and gave him the lotus flower, and told the commune, “All that I could bring into words I have given to you. That which has remained beyond words, I am transferring to Mahakashyapa.” That was the beginning of Zen. This is a transmission beyond words.

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Quarterly International Journal – Gita Dhyan Sadhana This is also the situation between Shri Krishna and Arjuna in the midst of the battlefield.

Also, Bhagavad Gita happened at three dimensions. One was a dialogue between the blind king Dhritarashtra and charioteer Sanjaya. This was a merely intellectual report with no understanding and transformation of either party involved. The second dimension was between Shri Krishna and Arjuna.

This communion was basically beyond the cognition of mind and cannot be understood through mental gymnastics. It is a meditation and only through silent communion with a master can the insights into Gita be revealed. This brings us to the third dimension.

The third dimension was between Vyasa and his readers. Vyasa is a master and he versified the silent communion between Krishna and Arjuna. His message in encapsulated between the lines of the written text. One needs the tools to decode this uttama rahasyam of the Gita.

At the time when Gita was revealed only five persons understood its inner significance: Krishna, Arjuna, Bhisma, Vidura and Vyasa.

Krishna was attuned to the highest consciousness when Gita descended through him. Arjuna was in physical contact with Krishna and „spiritually empty‟ so that Gita could be poured into him. Bhisma was in spiritual proximity of Krishna when Gita was being revealed and thus caught a waft from the god of the wind who echoed the silence of Gita in all quarters. But only those receptive could fathom the inner happenings. Vidura was in the spiritual „atma-sphere‟ of the forest – away from the maddening crowd. Thus he was able to imbibe the fragrance of Gita as it was brought to the earthly realm. And lastly, Vyasa who through his mystical vision was able to see the Gita being imparted. Because of his compassion for the aspiring humanity he versified the silence that descended via Krishna.

In order to grasp this insight of what Vyasa did, I draw an example from what in modern terminology is called reverse engineering. Something like when you talk into your cell phone via analog it is converted to digital and uploaded to a satellite, then downloaded to receiver‟s cell phone and reconverted to analog so that he can hear what you said at the transmitting end. In order to understand the Gita via the text of Vyasa one needs a meditative flight of consciousness and the company of an enlightened master so that one can learn to decode the hidden secrets.

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Quarterly International Journal – Gita Dhyan Sadhana If one is of the calibre of Dhritarashtra or Sanjaya the entire exercise of Gita yagna, Gita discourse would be an episode in mere mental gymnastics with not an iota of transformation or urge to spiritual life – as happens in your ritualistic and mechanical chanting of Bhagavad Gita.

If one is available to Gita like Bhisma then being in the presence of where Gita is chanted, a transformation can happen.

If one can lift one‟s consciousness into nirvikapla samadhi then one can understand Gita from the level of Krishna.

If one can totally surrender to the energy field (Buddha-field) like Arjuna then one can be filled with the essence, the amrita of Gita.

If one can attune one‟s consciousness to the cosmic vibrations like Vidura then wherever he is in the world he can be transformed when a master talks on Gita. And note I say a master and not a parrot-pundit who is like Sanjaya merely prattling the verses by rote to a spiritually blind audience. Neither Sanjay was transformed nor the blind king Dhritarashtra.

I continue with more insights into Gita.

It is said that Arjuna was overcome with dejection and fell into a swoon when he contemplated the outcome of the impending war. A man of the calibre of Arjuna cannot fall into a swoon at the thought of battle. He lives for battle.

Battle is his life.

In this gap Arjuna rose into a transsamadhi state and had a glimpse, a satori of the cosmic Lila - the drama of existence. He went into the dimension beyond the physical and entered the penultimate state – savikapla samadhi.

What happened when Arjuna asked Krishna to take his chariot to the no man‟s land – the gap between the two opposing forces ready to engage in the war? This gap is a sandhya - a point of suspension of thought. In this gap Arjuna rose into a trans-samadhi state and had a glimpse, a satori of the cosmic Lila - the drama of existence. He went into the dimension beyond the physical and entered the penultimate state – savikapla samadhi. This state was a natural occurrence with Ramakrishna Paramhansa – the guru of Swami Vivekananda. It was not a swoon or epileptic fit of unconsciousness.

In the compassionate care of Krishna, Arjuna was lifted to the higher realms beyond body-mind-intellect. He went into the turiya dimension and in this state Gita was uncovered by him.

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Quarterly International Journal – Gita Dhyan Sadhana A medieval example of this state was Guru Dev Nanak. He disappeared into the cosmic silence and returned with Japuji Sahib, which formed the basis of Guru Granth Sahib - spiritual text of the Sikhs.

Japuji is the fragrance of the ultimate flowering of Gurudev Nanak. After Nanak attained the dissolution of his being and transcendental merger into the cosmos, the first words he uttered was “ek omkar satnam”. In this simple yet profound declaration is the foundation for the entire edifice of the Sikh religion.

The words seem simple enough but the words are not the message. One needs to delve deeper to extract the hidden mysteries within the words.

Krishna says in Gita that there is only one mantra. This mantra is „Om Tat Sat‟. This „Om Tat Sat‟ was interpreted by Nanak as „Ek Omkar Satnam‟.

They mean the same thing.

Ek – means one. Not one as opposed to two or many but simply one because there is only one. He alone exists. Nothing else exists.

Omkar – means the resounding existential sound. All creation emanates from sound vibration. This sound vibration is OM. Through the utterance of Om He becomes the creation and is involved in the cosmic Lila.

Sat – means that which exists eternally. It is the sacchidananda of Vedanta; the rit of Veda; the dhamma of Buddha; the dharma of Puranas.

Nam – means the world of infinite plurality; the world of names and forms; the entire creation.

Ek omkar satnam means there is only one existential sound resounding through all creation.

All the verses of Nanak were sung. His way was through singing. This is Bhagavad Gita – the celestial song. Singing was the invisible silk thread that Nanak used to ultimately link with the invisible cosmic umbilical cord that emanates from Him. Such are the mystical insights into Bhagavad Gita. As our journey unfurls more insights will be made available in subsequent issues.

This much for now.

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Quarterly International Journal â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Gita Dhyan Sadhana

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Quarterly International Journal – Gita Dhyan Sadhana

Wisdom from the Sands of Eternity Authored by Taoshobuddha List Price: $30.00 6" x 9" (15.24 x 22.86 cm)

Black & White on White paper 440 pages ISBN-13: 978-1463551841 (Create Space-Assigned) ISBN-10: 1463551843 BISAC: Religion / Spirituality

Wisdom from Sands of Eternity

By Taoshobuddha You are the center. But you are not aware of this. Your connection is only of the circumference. All relations, emotions and all that is changing relates to the periphery. Deep within at the center we are all connected. We are only separate on the surface. At the center we are one. On the periphery we are individuals, and personalities at the center we are universal.

And when sometimes you are at the center, you can have all those glimpses which happen to anybody who is at the center. At some time or the other everybody moves to the center. Indeed in spite of oneself sometimes one reaches the center. It can happen accidentally as well. Something happens and a process triggers, one is flowing very high. You may not be able to express it sometimes, or maybe your expression is not adequate, because the expression belongs to the periphery and the experience belongs to the center. When you are at the center you experience something.

When you come back to the periphery you may not be able to express it or may be able only to express it inadequately. Somebody else may be able to express in a better way. Listening to him, suddenly you will see, ‘But this is what I was going to say, or this is what I have been feeling.’

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Quarterly International Journal â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Gita Dhyan Sadhana

List Price: $50.00 8.5" x 11" (21.59 x 27.94 cm) Full Color on White paper 160 pages ISBN-13: 978-1461130734 (Create Space-Assigned) ISBN-10: 1461130735 BISAC: Cooking / Regional & Ethnic / Indic Page | 86

Quarterly International Journal – Gita Dhyan Sadhana

Cooking Taoshobuddha Way Volume 1 The Exotic East Indian Cookbook with a difference Cooking for the transformation of human consciousness is Cooking Taoshobuddha Way or cooking for Buddhas!

The uniqueness of Indian Cuisine lies in its special blend of spices that release fragrant aroma in the atmosphere. The aroma and the finishing look become more attractive than a beautifully dressed beauty. This creates an enticing ambiance in the surroundings.

Cooking lovingly! Cooking meditatively! Cooking for Buddhas is the central theme of Cooking Taoshobuddha Way! Cooking for the transformation of human consciousness is what Taoshobuddha means by cooking. And this is the central theme of ‘Cooking Taoshobuddha way or Buddha Way!’ It is indeed cooking for Buddhas. A strange, yet still a meaningful title for a cook Book!

Cooking lovingly! Cooking meditatively! Cooking for Buddhas!

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Quarterly International Journal â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Gita Dhyan Sadhana

List Price: $70.00 8.5" x 11" (21.59 x 27.94 cm) Full Color Bleed on White paper 260 pages ISBN-13: 978-1461112099 (CreateSpace-Assigned) ISBN-10: 1461112095 BISAC: Cooking / Regional & Ethnic / Asian

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Quarterly International Journal – Gita Dhyan Sadhana

COOKING TAOSHOBUDDHA WAY VOL 2 A COMPREHENSIVE EAST INDIAN COOK BOOK Cooking Lovingly! Cooking Meditatively! Cooking for Buddhas!

Cooking for the transformation of human Taoshobuddha Way or cooking for Buddhas!

consciousness

is

Cooking

The uniqueness of Indian Cuisine lies in its special blend of spices that release fragrant aroma in the atmosphere. The aroma and the finishing look become more attractive than a beautifully dressed beauty. This creates an enticing ambiance in the surroundings.

Cooking lovingly! Cooking meditatively! Cooking for Buddhas is the central theme of Cooking Taoshobuddha Way! Cooking for the transformation of human consciousness is what Taoshobuddha means by cooking. And this is the central theme of ‘Cooking Taoshobuddha way or Buddha Way!’ It is indeed cooking for Buddhas. A strange, yet still a meaningful title for a cook Book!

Cooking lovingly! Cooking meditatively! Cooking for Buddhas!

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Quarterly International Journal â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Gita Dhyan Sadhana

The Diamond Sutra of Buddha: The Vajra Chedika Prajna Paramitta Sutra

Authored by Taoshobuddha

List Price: $30.00 6" x 9" (15.24 x 22.86 cm) Black & White on White paper 424 pages ISBN-13: 978-1461145233 (Create Space-Assigned) ISBN-10: 1461145236 BISAC: Religion / Buddhism / Sacred Writings

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Quarterly International Journal – Gita Dhyan Sadhana

The Diamond Sutra of Buddha I love Gautama the Buddha because he represents to me the essential core of religion.

He is not the founder of Buddhism Buddhism is a byproduct - but he is the beginner of a totally different kind of religion in the world. He’s the founder of a ‘Religionless Religion’.

He has propounded no religion instead religiousness. And this is a great radical change in the history of human consciousness.

Before Buddha there were religions but never a pure religiousness. Man was not yet mature. With Buddha, humanity enters into a mature age. All human beings have not yet entered into that, that is indeed true, but Buddha has heralded the path. Buddha has opened the gateless gate. It takes time for human beings to understand such a deep message. Buddha’s message is the deepest ever. Nobody has done the work that Buddha has done, the way he has done. Nobody else represents pure fragrance.

Other founders of religions, other enlightened people, have compromised with their audience. Buddha remains uncompromised, hence his purity. He does not care what you can understand he cares only what the truth is. And he says it without being worried whether you understand it or not. In a way this looks hard; in another way this is great compassion.

Truth has to be said as it is. The moment you compromise or the moment you bring truth to the ordinary level of human consciousness, it loses its soul. It becomes superficial, it becomes a dead thing. You cannot bring truth to the level of human beings. Instead human beings have to be led to the level of truth. That is Buddha’s great work. This is the essence of the Diamond Sutra of Buddha.

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Quarterly International Journal â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Gita Dhyan Sadhana

Life - Mystical Insights Authored by Taoshobuddha

List Price: $25.00 6" x 9" (15.24 x 22.86 cm) Black & White on White paper 252 pages ISBN-13: 978-1461167693 (Create Space-Assigned) ISBN-10: 1461167698 BISAC: Body, Mind & Spirit / Spirituality / General

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Quarterly International Journal – Gita Dhyan Sadhana

Life - Mystical Insights Life is reflection of what you are within. You may not see the inner reflection. It is there always waiting…. Transformation requires to see the innerness first and then not the reflection will move outwards.

Enlightened Taoshobuddha, a living buddha shares his insights into life and living. This is part of his transformation of human consciousness series.

The sutra says, when a mood against someone or for someone arises, do not place it on the person in question – or on the object in question. Remain centered.

Go within, move within. You will find the source because the anger is coming from your source. Hate and love or anything else is coming from your source. And it is easy to go to the source at the moment when you are angry or in love or in hate, because then you are hot. It is easy to move in then.

The wire that is hot and you can take it in, you can move inward with that hotness. And when you reach a cool point within, you will suddenly realize a different dimension, a different dimension, a different world opening before you.

Use anger, hate, and love to go within. Use it always to move to the other – outward. This is your nature and upbringing. In the process of moving outward you feel very much frustrated if no one is there to project upon.

Then you go on projecting even on inanimate objects, like slamming door, throwing pans etc. I have seen persons being angry at their shoes, throwing them in anger.

What are they doing? I have seen angry persons pushing a door in anger, throwing their anger on the door, abusing the door, using dirty language against the door. What are they doing?

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Quarterly International Journal – Gita Dhyan Sadhana

WISDOM FROM THE SANDS OF ETERNITY BY

TAOSHOBUDDHA

CVR AMAZON’S KINDLE DIGITAL FORMAT

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Quarterly International Journal â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Gita Dhyan Sadhana

CVR AMAZON.COM PAPERBACK

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Quarterly International Journal â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Gita Dhyan Sadhana

Horizons beyond the Mind Human Transformation Series Authored by Taoshobuddha

Horizons beyond the Mind Published by: CreateSpace eStore: https://www.createspace.com/3639905 Available at:

https://amazon.Com/taoshobuddha https://kdp.Amazon Page | 96

Quarterly International Journal – Gita Dhyan Sadhana Both in Paperback Print form and Digital format List Price: $20.00 6" x 9" (15.24 x 22.86 cm) Black & White Bleed on White paper 302 pages Paperback ISBN-13: 978-1463646387 (CreateSpace-Assigned) ISBN-10: 1463646380 BISAC: Religion / Mysticism List Price: $11.99 Kindle Store Digital Format Books like this are the message or grace or compassion of the enlightened one. Unlike other books these make the reader more conscious. As you grow in consciousness you become more and more aware. And one day the same awareness that first gives you only the fading glimpses of totality as Satori and then one day spontaneously it explodes into enlightenment.

However the masters or the enlightened ones have attained to such a plane.

Then effortlessly the message overflows as the melody of the being. Like a flower he has blossomed alone on the path to the spring of inner joy, and then other flowers started blossoming and Lo! Now the spring of blissfulness is around. The blossoming of the first flower indicates the arrival of the season of flowering.

The contents and the message of this and many other works of Taoshobuddha is such an outcome. Beyond time, space, and human limitations the message shall continue to illumine the inner path till eternity lasts.

Not only that the understanding and insights of the Enlightened Taoshobuddha will lead you like pole star along the dark caves of your being.

And then with the taste of awareness and bliss you will ‘BE LIGHT UNTO YOURSELF’.

As a master my effort is to discover ways to help you so that your body, mind, and consciousness, all can dance in one rhythm, in togetherness, and in deep harmony not in any conflict instead in deep cooperation.

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Quarterly International Journal â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Gita Dhyan Sadhana

Contact Information for the Editorial Team For any comments, queries and critical suggestions you can send an email to any of the following addresses: Taoshobuddha:

mailtaoshobuddha@gmail.com

Taoshobuddha:

mailtaoshobuddha@yahoo.com

Anand Neelambar:

avatar411@gmail.com

Lars Jensen:

jensen@gmx.at

Anil Sohoni:

anilsohoni@gmail.com

Hemant Moghe:

hemantpmoghe@gmail.com

for Taoshobuddha Meditations Websites:

http://dhyan-samadhi.webs.com/ http://www.youtube.com/taoshobuddha9 http://www.scribd.com/taoshobuddhacyberlibrary http://www.issuu.com/taoshobuddhalibrary http://bodhidharmameditation.blogspot.com/ http://www.taoshobuddhameditations.myeweb.net/ http://meditationtimes.myeweb.net/

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