Gita is about vyavaharasastra (how to live practically) with adhytama (spirituality) in that vyavahara (practicality). Therefore, Sri Krishna does not condemn any work, including the work of a warrior who may be on the verge of a surgical strike. Terrorists know only how to kill, but warriors know how to save lives. As we have seen, armies are always deployed to rescue people from dangerous situations. A soldier experiences utility in destroying or building and saving or striking.

Gita teaches us to see divinity everywhere. Arjuna was trying to find peace beyond war because that is how he understood life. However, he failed to recognize that war is a constant. There is always an inevitable external war for dharmic governance, and similarly, an internal war of conflicting tribulations within oneself. Action engages one externally and thinking of God engages one internally.

Gita teaches us to renounce things internally (anasakti) rather than abandoning things in themselves (tyaga). tyaga is superfluous and artificial because we have the body, which is the greatest cause of attachment. Therefore, Sri Krishna teaches us that the body can cause bondage or it can be the medium to take us beyond bondage. It is the tool for karma yoga (divinity with action).

Gita does not impose or oblige us to follow any dogma; rather it inspires with dynamic logical concepts to take responsibility for our growth and progress.

Gita empowers us to become the master of our situations; the commander against fighting our limitations with the support and wisdom given by Guru and the blessings which continuously flow from within through the presence of paramatma – who is the silent witness to our activities. paramatma does not fight for us, but He guides from within; just like Sri Krishna and Arjuna. Sri Krishna did not fight for him; however, He did observe the fighting and confer continuous guidance.

Gita is not a book of law; Gita is a seed bank of the most potential seeds of the external principals of life. Every individual according to who they are, have to take the right seeds and cultivate them. Providing the seeds is Gita’s job and Krishna’s kindness. Planting, growing and harvesting are the responsibility of the living entities. While Gita’s principles are eternal and universal, the application is very personal and contextual.

Gita teaches us to be in complete harmony amongst all kinds of so called conflicts. In fact, Sri Krishna begins his teaching by making it very clear to Arjuna that even He does not interfere in the affairs of the material nature. Instead, He teaches him to transcend the conflict rather than artificially escape it. 

Gita’s final opinion is declared via the mouth of a chariot driver, Sanjay. As Sanjaya narrates the entire happenings of the battlefield to the blind king and most important stakeholder of the war, Dhristarasthra, he says, “Wherever there is Sri Krishna (the visionary) and Arjuna (the doer), there is certainly victory, prosperity, morality, determination, and peace.”

This is the yoga of success; when the jiva cooperates with God to be eternally satisfied. This is the real yoga of life. Let us invite Sri Krishna to be the driver of our thoughts and intelligence. And let us act based on that direction. This is the best way to experience Gita.

Jai Gita Jayanti!

The post Gita’s Perspective: Sage Within, King Without appeared first on Dharma Today.

Standardized tests. College admissions. Ivy League hopes. Social Security. It all comes to a head junior year.

So to boost my chances for better undergrad prospects, I figured I needed to shape up my extra-curricular activities portfolio. And being the procrastinating opportunist that I was, I thrust myself into the one school sport that ‘met my standards’. Translate: required no try outs. That was Track & Field.

After my first week of practice, I decided to rename the sport – Pain & More of the Same. It was tough. The exhausting sequence of sprints and laps curled my stomach but no practice regimen was tougher than the stairs of the English Building.

Oh how I dreaded the stairs.

We raced up and down the long, winding staircase of the English Building to no end. My thighs would start to give way one-third into the practice. The pain would then pulsate through my hips and joints.

It was torturous. How I hated the stairs.

But all this agony had to count for something more than a silver star on my application.

Drawing Inspiration

As a spiritual practitioner, I am eager to draw out lessons from any experience, no matter how distasteful. I certainly did with the stairs.

Besides my suffering had to have some meaning!

3 Easy Steps to Financial Independence. 7 Laws of Success. 10-Days to Self-Esteem. The world is replete with bulleted-breakdowns on how to master life with tried and true steps and I certainly took as much advantage as I could of them.

I had a lot of time to think about those stairs while I lumbered my way to the top floor. Clearly, even so many years after, the intensity of the experience hasn’t left me.

As such I have spent some recent time drawing out some insight truths of personal growth from them. I was particularly inspired to do so when I observed how Krishna, throughout the Bhagavad Gita, provides various frameworks for gradual personal development.

Stairs, stages, steps. I need them and not just in practical, external terms. I never imagined I would dissect the nature of a step but it’s actually a wonderful little thing.

• Each step provides the support you need to get to the next
• Each step reminds you that your journey is not over
• Each step gives you time to rest and reset
• In turn, the steps allow you to pace yourself through your journey
• Unless you’re the Incredible Hulk, you’ll climb one step at a time. This encourages you to be patient and take every (step) moment as it comes
• The long way to the top of the English building reminds you that progress is gradual
• The process of climbing builds strength and, over time, momentum

In this way, a staircase is a metaphor for a challenging but important journey that quietly and systematically helps us to grow.

Thank goodness for steps and the will to climb them.

Next Steps

• Observe: Look around where ever you are right now. Pick something innocuous that you use all the time and take for granted.
• Introspect: Take a moment to introspect. Then write down 5 benefits (especially intangible ones) from that object.
• Do Akarma: Express gratitude for the ability to draw inspiration and knowledge from all angles of creation.

The post The Stairs appeared first on Dharma Today.

Over the last 10 years, I strove to find ways to map Arjuna’s challenges and Krishna’s solutions to modernity. What do karma, dharma, atma, the yogas, maya and other Gita themes have to do with our everyday experiences? How do they hit home?

Reflecting on the relevance of Arjuna’s struggle to do what he must, I decided to focus on something very tangible. My own shortcomings.

It made me think even more deeply.

Why do we spend so much emotional and psychological energy covering our blind spots? Why don’t we share more of our shortcomings even with those closest to us so we can identify the target and then destroy it?

Arjuna the (In)vulnerable

Arjuna, the protagonist of the Bhagavad Gita, demonstrates that no matter what your status in society and stature in life, we all live with blind spots. We all carry the burden of faults and weaknesses. He stood on the precipice of world war and broke down into a pool of sadness.

So what next? What is the approach we take to grab this dilemma by the ankles before it takes fire to our path forward?

In three broad steps, we need to:

1. Be conscious of the blindspots
2. Provide disclosure when they hurt us and others
3. Work to rectify them

To do any of this, we need to become more vulnerable. Vulnerability is the need for every individual to acknowledge their inherent shortcomings.

But why should I ever disclose my weakness?

It makes me weak in the eyes of the world out there and the ego in here. It makes me susceptible to ridicule, disrespect, and defeat. Why even open that door?

This is our bravado. It ultimately suffocates our potential to grow and blossom into the best we can possibly be. False pride is the psychological noose that never lets us touch the ground so we can make true internal progress.

The greatest consequence of weakness manifests through its suppression. We could have achieved so much more for our inner lives but were roadblocked by the great wall of dishonesty.

Arjuna saw this. He understood that no matter what he felt about this war he needed to come clean. He needed to provide full disclosure about why he couldn’t fulfill his solemn oath to fight for righteousness at any cost. He needed to let Krishna know that there was this gaping hole in his conscience and he couldn’t get across it.

He revealed his heart to Krishna and that was his saving grace. Without it, there was no chance of absorbing the wisdom he needed to uproot his weaknesses.

The Need for Honesty

Being fully integrated doesn’t come easy for anyone but more so today. From the moment we are exposed to the media, we are trained in the art of image management.

More significantly, we are informed that image is paramount. The message out there is loud and clear – the way we hold ourselves up to the world will shape our destiny and our opportunities.

This means that our image will always trump our inner lives. After all, why would you want the world to know how many times you yelled at your employees, cut in line at the amusement park, or gossiped behind your neighbors back?

So despite the positive evolution of our collective conversation on being authentic and embracing our imperfect selves, far too often we run from the truth.

When it comes down to it, I am not going to hang myself out there like a piñata. What’s the payoff for me?

The effect of this mindset on society and culture at large is incalculable.

When fear and insecurity influence the most important decisions, we lead around our blindspots leaving ourselves exposed to personal, interpersonal and organizational disaster.

Our weaknesses, shortcomings, blindspots and character gaps cannot be wished away. They cannot be ignored forever. They will only be exacerbated to the proportion we push them aside.

This is the massive price we pay for failing to appreciate our own failings. The karmic toll only perpetuates a life of fear and psychological slavery to our lesser selves.

In the end, no one really wins.

If I Don’t Look Strong, Others Won’t Respect Me

What is strength? What does the current culture inform us about what it entails?

The above photo is a man wearing a woman’s shoes. Without hesitating, what are your impressions? Take a moment and be clear about them.

Here is the answer to the mystery man in the photo.

If you deeply understand human nature at its highest peak, you will see how nothing inspires others more than character and spiritual qualities. That is because qualities and values of humility, sincerity, and vulnerability speak to a side of ourselves that transcends the mortal coils and are independent of race, color, creed, sex, religion, nationality, and upbringing.

We see this especially across so many exemplars of many spiritual traditions.

Yet for the most part, we continue to bind ourselves to lower and more restrictive standards of power and strength.

Some emphasize their physical prowess through either brute force or beauty. Others dig a little deeper to harness their intellectual and psychological wits to influence. We could probably affix the majority of leaders to either or both of these categories.

But why does this happen?

a) I, Me and Mine

Ultimately, those addicted to power are so for a very important reason. The ego has convinced them that they own it. That this power is something to be possessed and concurrently it’s something that can be taken away.

Ponder this for a moment.

If you have something precious that you believe can be taken from you, what will you do and not do to ensure that it never is? What will you say and not say? What will you be and not be? This sense of proprietorship can shape your entire life, all your decisions, your relationships, and paradigms.

This state of consciousness, which is what it really is, leaves one consumed by survival of the fittest approach to all aspects of their lives.

And naturally those who are weak cannot be fit. Then why would you ever voluntarily display any weakness unless it’s another ploy to protect or expand one’s strengths?

The reality is that all power is at its core, energy. Energy can be contained for some time but its very nature is to flow and move.

Sometimes it moves from one container to another but move it must. That is the very nature of energy.

Therefore we so often see power making its move and the ‘containers’ panicking. Struggling ever so hard to keep it in its grasp.

Think Lord of the Rings. Think Precious.

It is this deep-seeded fear that inspires so much chauvinism amongst leaders and laymen alike.

Power is fleeting so when I have it, why would ever sabotage myself by conveying my own weaknesses?

It’s because we lack the Truth about power. There is a greater power than the one we wield to control others, to control our image, to control the externals of life.

The greater power is one that transcends the fleeting and temporary. It is the power that lasts. It is the power that inspires the very best of our selves and others.

b) Society

You may acknowledge to yourself that you have shortcomings. Maybe they are no surprise. But you definitely don’t want to relinquish your image of the ‘always right, always strong boss of bosses’.

You have in turn let others define your sense of self-worth. You are at the mercy of the ever changing perceptions of others.

This puts you in a precarious position.

Not only are you struggling to internally to fill a void left by the gap between the truth and the image but now you are constantly calculating your words to uphold the image.

It creates a stressful scenario because being and feeling whole is natural. The absence of internal integrity creates a friction that eventually leads to a fissure in our conscious selves casting off the true identity like a boat without a paddle.

To avoid this, we need to find a state of security independent of others. We have to stand up for our own selves – flaws and all – and simply be honest.

Of course, this does not mean we are not careful about how, when, where and to whom we are honest. Intelligence is the guiding force here. But ultimately we cannot be afraid to disappoint others more than we are afraid to disappoint ourselves.

c) Education and Habit

No one elevated your thinking especially while you were growing up. You were simply trained to believe that it’s a dog eat dog world and you had to look out for yourself.

And I am not pinning the blame on parents or family exclusively either. Society at large, educational institutions, friends and so on all had a part to play in shoveling aside the call to dig deeper.

As such, no one pushed, encouraged, or influenced you to see your entire self in a different light. Even if the light was shone upon you, you didn’t know how to notice the opportunity – the new paradigm.

You are habituated to thinking of the world as zero sum game so that’s that.

But it isn’t. It never is.

You can only blame your upbringing, your teachers and guides, your karma for so long. At some point, you need to put your own self on the hot seat and grow.

Personal Exercises

Observe: Can you list any situations where you were unwilling to disclose a fault or weakness of yours with others? What were the circumstances? What were your conscious justifications?

Introspect: Were there any deeper reasons to hide your gaps that you never acknowledged to yourself or others? What were you most afraid of? What could have perpetuated this type of fear? Does it spill over into any other facet of your life?

Do Akarma: Who could you lean on to help you be accountable for your flaws? Is there an individual with your best interests in mind, able to provide honest (positive and negative) feedback and hold you accountable to improve?

The post Being vulnerable and managing blindspots – Lessons from Arjuna appeared first on Dharma Today.