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All the words in this section
are as spoken by Swamiji. Reading them carefully and trying to understand
them deeply will bring about a radical change within us. When we
transform inside, the outside transforms automatically.
Swamiji spoke on the Srimad Bhagavad Gita from Sep
4 - 21, 2005 at The Malibu Temple, Los Angeles, USA. Following is the synopsis of the 18 discourses delivered on 18 days, one chapter of the Gita everyday.
We are always talking. Even when we are not talking, we are
preparing what to say next. We never listen. It takes true
intelligence to really listen. Krishna just listens to Arjuna
in the first chapter of the Gita.
He patiently allows him to speak, to perceive the depth of
depression and confusion that he experiences. He analyzes
where Arjuna’s thoughts are coming from. Arjuna speaks.
He opens his mouth, but in effect, he actually opens his Being.
In
this context, Krishna is a Zen master. He addresses the issue
straightaway. He instructs Arjuna to fight. Essentially Arjuna
is afraid. His whole problem is depression because of fear.
The first two slokas are enough. If Arjuna can
execute this, he will attain Enlightenment. If he can realize
with his whole Being that Krishna is God, if he can surrender
through devotion, these two slokas are sufficient.
Because he is not able to be in the mood of the stotra,
Krishna has to bring in shastrasfor
him. He has to give the experience to Arjuna because he is
not mature enough.
Krishna states, 'You are God.' Arjuna is not ready to believe
this until Krishna expresses his Divinity, proving that he
is God. Arjuna says, 'My soul is surrendered unto you.' This
is a lie. If this were true, he would execute what Krishna
says in the first two slokas and not need the intellectual
explanation. This surrender is purely verbal. Actually what
it really means is that he is ready to listen and surrender
to what he wishes to hear out of Krishna’s
mouth. He is not ready for the Truth.
Krishna says that there was never a time you did not exist;
you will be here forever. The past present and future are
just words; you will exist throughout. You will experience
this only when you fall into the present moment; then you
will know your source; you will experience your Being.
Krishna says that you are beyond time, but as of now you
are caught in the mind. The mind is nothing but the oscillation
of thoughts, of the continual movement back and forth between
the past and the future. The higher the frequency of thoughts,
the further away you are from the present moment.
The human mind can only receive a few concepts at any one
time. Once we fully digest and understand one concept completely,
it is enough. Otherwise we are merely collecting concepts.
We are just gaining ‘head weight,’ just adding
knowledge, not attaining understanding.
The Bhagavad Gita is the only book that teaches you how
to live. It is the book of Quantum Spirituality. It teaches
how to live fully in both the material and the spiritual.
The Gita teaches that you can do both at the same time. You
don't have to choose. You can just explore both. Actually
it is only when we live intensely in both do we realize the
Truth. All we need is a little openness and sensitivity and
we will experience God in whatever form, wherever we are.
I am not here to prove that I am God. I
am here to prove that you are God.