A Commentary on the Bhagavad Gita–by Swami Nirmalananda Giri
Freedom
The great bondage
“When men have thrown off their ignorance, they are free from pride and delusion. They have conquered the evil of worldly attachment. They live in constant union with the Atman. All craving has left them. They are no longer at the mercy of opposing sense-reactions. Thus they reach that state which is beyond all change.” (Bhagavad Gita 15:5) This is the state of moksha–of freedom.
It is possible to waste a lot of time and struggle on things that prove impossible to accomplish because we are going about it in the wrong way. This first sentence gives us invaluable information about dealing with ego and delusion. “How can I get rid of ego?” is a constant refrain of those who have no idea of the Way. According to the Gita pride (ego) and delusion are side-effects of ignorance. So we need to work on ridding ourselves of that. Furthermore, once ignorance is gone, so is attachment to the dream-illusions of this world. For our eyes see clearly both the truth and the untruth of things.
The most important characteristic of the liberated yogi is living in conscious, unbroken union with Spirit–individual and infinite. This is the goal of all those within the field of relativity. Illuminated consciousness is total fulfillment, therefore within it all desire has melted away. In the same way the experiences of the senses no longer control or produce delusive reactions. There is an important implication here: the liberated person still experiences the external world–it does not vanish–but without identifying with it or being influenced by it. This is true mastery. Such a state is beyond all change. It cannot be lessened or obscured, for it is Reality itself. “This is my Infinite Being; shall the sun lend it any light–or the moon, or fire? For it shines Self-luminous always: and he who attains me will never be reborn.” (Bhagavad Gita 15:6)
Eternal spirit
How is it that what the Gita says about us and our infinite destiny can be true–it seems so beyond anything we know of ourselves? That is because we have no idea of our own nature as part of that Infinite Life we call “God.” This is why the Gita should be our daily study–to keep us reminded. Now Krishna will explain how we are in a sense incarnations of Divinity.
“Part of myself is the God within every creature, keeps that nature eternal, yet seems to be separate, putting on mind and senses five, the garment made of Prakriti.” (Bhagavad Gita 15:7) Every sentient being is rooted in Infinite Being and is in an incomprehensible way a part of that Being. Our presence is the Presence of God, however much we keep that divine aspect of ourselves covered up. At no time are we other than eternal beings free within God, but the dream of duality and delusion has overcome us. We think we are cut off from God because we have put on the costume of the material body with the five outer senses and the inner sense of the mind.
There are really two persons inhabiting each body: the individual spirit and the Supreme Spirit. Krishna keeps speaking of the Lord (Ishwara) so we will not lose sight of that fact, and also so we will realize that the Infinite Will is always in control however the dream may seem otherwise.
“When the Lord puts on a body, or casts it from him, he enters or departs, taking the mind and senses away with him, as the wind steals perfume out of the flowers.” (Bhagavad Gita 15:8) Nothing is really lost to us by death. We take all that matters with us, and we bring it back with us in the next birth to continue our evolutionary path. Each life affects us, and we take those influences along with us. Because they are so subtle they are symbolized as the perfume of flowers. But they are none the less real for that.
“Watching over the ear and the eye, and presiding there behind touch, and taste, and smell, he is also within the mind: he enjoys and suffers the things of the senses.” (Bhagavad Gita 15:9) Both we and God are witnesses through the senses and mind of all our experiences as we incarnate in the “many mansions” of creation. We seem to undergo those experiences–which we do, but as in a dream. God experiences all that we do–this is a manifestation of our oneness with God. God knows it is a dream, but we do not and so we suffer.
Two kinds of human beings
“Dwelling in flesh, or departing, or one with the gunas, knowing their moods and motions, he is invisible always to the ignorant, but his sages see him with the eye of wisdom.” (Bhagavad Gita 15:10) There are two basic divisions in this world: those that do not see God and those that do. And those that see God and their own Self never lose sight of those divine realities whether incarnate, “dying,” or experiencing the modes (gunas) of Prakriti. The others never see anything–but in time they will, for that is the destiny of all sentient beings.
Who sees God?
Who are those that see God? Not the merely religious or virtuous, for Krishna continues: “Yogis who have gained tranquility through the practice of spiritual disciplines, behold him in their own consciousness. But those who lack tranquility and discernment will not find him, even though they may try hard to do so.” (Bhagavad Gita 15:11)
Only the adept yogis who have entered into their own spirit-consciousness beyond the tossing waves of samsara–including their own gross and subtle bodies–see God. And they do not see him outside themselves, but at the very core of their being, pervading their own consciousness.
Who does not see?
When the scriptures of authentic dharma speak of the ignorant and describe their dilemmas, it is never to condemn or despise them, but to inform us who seek to be wise. In this verse two words are used to describe those that cannot possibly see God, and they tell us much.
The first word is akritatmano, which means one who is unprepared and unperfected. Now this is important, for Krishna is not talking of “bad” or “unworthy” people, but of those who have not evolved to perfection and therefore are unprepared for the Divine Vision–incapable of it. This is not a fault, but a stage on the way in which all but a fraction of sentient beings find themselves. But we are hereby told what we need: to prepare ourselves and strive to be more complete in mastery of our energy levels and more centered in the consciousness that we really are. We need to become steady practicers of yoga.
The other word is acetasah–the unthinking. This includes both those that are simply unaware and those that refuse to be aware. There are people that live heedlessly throughout life after life, never considering the deeper implications of their existence. Even though they have an intellectual belief in God, they do not live life in the perspective of that truth. Only those who ponder deeply on the eternal mystery of God, man, and life are open to understand and move onward from mere thinking about it to actually walking the Way.
Read more on the Bhagavad Gita.
A commentary on the Gospel of Thomas – by Swami Nirmalananda Giri
Father in Heaven; Father on Earth
“Jesus said, When you see one who was not born of woman, prostrate yourselves on your faces and worship him. That one is your father.” (15)
Everyone who has read the Gospels is very familiar with the injunction: “Call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.” (Matthew 23:9) I grew up with this verse being a stone to throw at Catholics for calling a priest “Father” while proceeding to write in the biological father’s name on all kind of forms and applications. Bigotry is its own justification.
However that might be, when we turn to Hinduism and the “yoga world” this mandate goes out the window in a welter of adulation and titles. One time at a spiritual conference in Northern India I heard a shameless crook even more shamelessly being introduced with a string of inflated titles that went on for a long time before his name was even reached. A friend of mine came across several lines of adulatory appellations in reference to a contemporary super-guru who claimed to be the only legitimate guru presently on the earth. “Why don’t they just call him God?” he demanded in disgust. “It would be shorter to say and easier to spell!” Of course a lot of “avatars” are racing around India and the world. What to do about it? Nothing. Let them and their followers have their fun. And let us consider what real masters have taught–such as this verse from the Gospel of Thomas.
Since only God is our Father (and Mother), only God or someone who is totally one with God–knowing that God is his Self–can be called (or considered) Father in the spiritual sense. Jesus obviously has no problem with calling God Father, so this verse is dealing with human beings, or at least those in human form.
He is quite simple in his exposition. “One who was not born of woman” is Father. “Woman” has two levels of meaning in this: 1) humanity and 2) the cosmos–relativity itself. So a “Father” can have no identity with either limited humanity or the human body. That is, he knows himself as neither the body nor even human. Further, he does not in any way consider himself to be an entity separated from God, however exalted that status might be. He sees and knows only the Absolute. Even his individual Self he knows only in its eternal relation to God. “Creation” (Prakriti) has ceased to exist for him and only the consciousness of Spirit (Purusha) prevails. Nothing about him has been “born” from anything but the Infinite.
When (IF) we do meet such a one, they are worthy of reverence and even worship to some extent. (It should be pointed out here that such a Father may be in female form.)
The big question is Who? Who is such a divinized being? Naturally everyone is going to insist their guru is such a one, and there is no reasoning with them. I could give my list, but what value is that? The problem lies in the subjectivity that has to come into such opinions. I will venture to say that a perfect example of such a one was Sri Ramana Maharshi.
Perhaps the smartest thing is not to care, but keep on making sure we ourselves become such one day.
Read the text of The Gospel of Thomas and more Commentaries on the Gospel of Thomas.
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