Gita Jayanti - Dec 16
For Hindus, Gita Jayanti commemorates the speaking of the Bhagavad Gita by Sri Krishna. The Gita was spoken to the warrior-prince Arjuna right before a great battle. Sometimes our daily lives assume the shape of a struggle or battle. Mahatma Gandhi said of the Gita:
“When doubts haunt me, when disappointments stare me in the face, and I see not one ray of hope on the horizon, I turn to Bhagavad-Gita and find a verse to comfort me; and I immediately begin to smile in the midst of overwhelming sorrow. Those who meditate on the Gita will derive fresh joy and new meanings from it every day."
The sages tell us that Bhagavad Gita is a remedy for the Kaliyuga, this age of anxiety, of stress and quarrel. In the Kaliyuga, everyone is going at such a hectic pace, trying to meet goals and deadlines and payments. People feel worn out and fatigued. We forget what's important. We lose sight of how to act properly and of our eternal, spiritual nature. We may feel that we are drying up or that we are being struck by the sharp arrows of worldly existence. Krishna's words can give us insight and guide us, just as thousands of years ago, His message calmed the mind of Arjuna who had lost his composure and was confused as to what course of action to take.
Albert Schweitzer wrote, "The Bhagavad-Gita has a profound influence on the spirit of mankind by its devotion to God, which is manifested by actions." Bhagavad Gita provides the foundations of yoga, which is not so much about postures but, as Schweitzer observed, more about actions and how we conduct ourselves and what our intentions are.
It’s important to take time for introspection, to slow down from the hectic pace that we often find ourselves in. The Hopis of the southwest have an ancient prediction that there will come a time when life's pace speeds out of control, and at that time we must make a conscious effort to slow down. That time is now. Slowing down and living with sacred intention can be achieved through meditation on the names of God. There are many names found in sacred traditions all over the world.
Arjuna was not a scholar, a sage or a renunciate. He was a family man, a warrior, a man with worldly duties and responsibilities. Sometimes, as Arjuna, we may also become confused. And as Arjuna, our minds and spirits can become refreshed by hearing the words of Sri Krishna. By introspection and meditation a tremendous change can come about by what seems to be one little activity or effort.
"I owed a magnificent day to the Bhagavad-Gita. It was the first of books; it was as if an empire spoke to us, nothing small or unworthy, but large, serene, consistent, the voice of an old intelligence which in another age and climate had pondered and thus disposed of the same questions which exercise us." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
“When doubts haunt me, when disappointments stare me in the face, and I see not one ray of hope on the horizon, I turn to Bhagavad-Gita and find a verse to comfort me; and I immediately begin to smile in the midst of overwhelming sorrow. Those who meditate on the Gita will derive fresh joy and new meanings from it every day."
The sages tell us that Bhagavad Gita is a remedy for the Kaliyuga, this age of anxiety, of stress and quarrel. In the Kaliyuga, everyone is going at such a hectic pace, trying to meet goals and deadlines and payments. People feel worn out and fatigued. We forget what's important. We lose sight of how to act properly and of our eternal, spiritual nature. We may feel that we are drying up or that we are being struck by the sharp arrows of worldly existence. Krishna's words can give us insight and guide us, just as thousands of years ago, His message calmed the mind of Arjuna who had lost his composure and was confused as to what course of action to take.
Albert Schweitzer wrote, "The Bhagavad-Gita has a profound influence on the spirit of mankind by its devotion to God, which is manifested by actions." Bhagavad Gita provides the foundations of yoga, which is not so much about postures but, as Schweitzer observed, more about actions and how we conduct ourselves and what our intentions are.
It’s important to take time for introspection, to slow down from the hectic pace that we often find ourselves in. The Hopis of the southwest have an ancient prediction that there will come a time when life's pace speeds out of control, and at that time we must make a conscious effort to slow down. That time is now. Slowing down and living with sacred intention can be achieved through meditation on the names of God. There are many names found in sacred traditions all over the world.
Arjuna was not a scholar, a sage or a renunciate. He was a family man, a warrior, a man with worldly duties and responsibilities. Sometimes, as Arjuna, we may also become confused. And as Arjuna, our minds and spirits can become refreshed by hearing the words of Sri Krishna. By introspection and meditation a tremendous change can come about by what seems to be one little activity or effort.
"I owed a magnificent day to the Bhagavad-Gita. It was the first of books; it was as if an empire spoke to us, nothing small or unworthy, but large, serene, consistent, the voice of an old intelligence which in another age and climate had pondered and thus disposed of the same questions which exercise us." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
posted by Andy Fraenkel at 11:41 AM
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