Inner Journey

The Hindu tenets are based on the belief of the existence of a soul [atman] beyond Body, Mind and Intellect.The soul transmigrates from one body to the next, in rebirth.Soul is never born, never dies;it is eternal,imperishable. {Some religions like Buddhism does not include atman or soul.They are called 'anatma' religions.They stop with the body,mind and nature.]The soul is also called the Self [capital S] in living beings.
   There is Brahman, the supreme force or being pervading the Universe.This brahman seems to reside in our bodies and created things too.Is this Brahman same as the soul or atman of the previous paragraph.?This is the endless question and led to disputes,schism and bitter divisions among the Hindus. Does the soul or Self merge with Brahman, or is  the same as Brahman or does it remain separate from Brahman?.While Brahman can exist in non-living things too,say a stone,do stones have a Self or Atman?
 What is consciousness? Is it same as the Self ? Is it the same as Brahman? Should we talk of Consciousness in us or Self  and Cosmic consciousness ,equivalent to Brahman? These questions, and a few more, will take you to Hindu philosophy with all its minor variations. This is only an intro to these thoughts...The Gita is based on the existence of the Soul and its Universal aspect.This has to be accepted.

    This self is unborn, eternal,changeless, timeless (ancient).It is never destroyed even when the body is destroyed.                          [2:20]
(The numbers are the numbers of the chapter and the verse in the Gita)
 Know THAT to be indestructible by which all this is pervaded.No one is ever able to destroy that  Immutable.  [2: 17]
( Calling the Atman or Self as 'That' is a standard trick of the Hindu philosophers.That is neither male or female----beyond gender.!)
   The man of unflinching faith,who has mastered his senses,attains wisdom.Having gained wisdom,he immediately attains the state of supreme  peace.     [4:39]
Note that the term 'senses' includes [in Vedanta] the five senses [seeing,hearing,smelling,tasting and touching] and the mind (sixth sense). Here the Lord talks about 'wisdom' and how that leads to supreme peace...the route is clearly stated: 'Have faith,control the senses,attain the wisdom and then attain the  peace that passeth understanding or beyond intellect'
.Without faith, a mere study become as an intellectual exercise.[You may become a philosopher & get your Ph.D]There is no short cut in this!.Chapter 4 of the Gita is all about wisdom.  or Viveka or discrimination. It is full of practical means for the sadhak or aspirant.
  O Arjun, I am the Self, existing in the heart of all beings.I am the beginning,the middle and also the end of all beings.     [ 10-20]
Bhagavan Ramana is quoted as having said that this verse is the essence of all of the Gita.[source: Complete  works of Ramana Maharshi by Arthur Osborne]A similar statement was given by Shirdi Sai Baba.
This concept of theSelf or God or Lord Krishna  seated in the hearts of all beings is repeatedly stated by the Lord  in the Gita.The Lord as incarnated being and the Self are the same.
We shall pause here in this 'Gita Snippets' page.----read this page several times and reflect.You may or may not agree with all this...That is OKAY.--
The Hindu philosophers say that the Jnana path has three steps: study [Shravana], reflection [manana] and meditation [nidhidhyasana].This is only the study part .

In basic terms, there are two approaches to the Gita.One approach is to study the Upanishads [Vedanta] deeply and interpret the Gita from the tenets of the Upanishads. This approach is mostly seen in Advaitic scholars, following the commentaries of Adi Shankara.This is reflected in recent times,the way Swami Sivananda and his well-known disciple -Swami Chinmayananda wrote and spoke.These two swamis did much to propagate the Gita from 1950's.
  The other approach is to study the Puranas [mythical stories] first,especially Srimad Bhagavatam and Krishna's lore, an d    make  the commentaries based on that, though some references may be made to the Upanishads.[ In passing it may be noted that Sri Ramanuja did not write commentaries on the Upanishads, but derived from other vaishanva saints.]This approach is that followed by Sri Ramanuja, Sri Madhwa and other latter day acharyas.They were followed by Sridhara Swami and Madhusudan Saraswathi, both advaitic scholars, but influenced by devotional or bhakti cults, including Sufi traditions.[14th and 16th centuries].In recent times, Srila Prabhupada [of ISKCON ] revived this approach with great vigor, in the tradition of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu [Gaudia Vaishanava sects].[His book "The Gita as It is" reflects this approach.]
 At present, the various commentaries/translations on the Gita are a mixture of both the approaches.They emphasize at once, the abstract [and abstruce] Vedantic concepts and also personal theism--worship of personal God, in the tradition of Sri Krishna worship or worship of other deities.
  In ultimate sense,Bhakti aand Jnana are very close;but practitioners or sadhaks can quarrel a lot over their relative merits...the commentaries vary a great deal even today...I have seen many  scholars interpret in many different ways in their discourses,often confusing the beginning sadhaks or lay men.
I personally feel that it is better to keep away from sectarian doctrines/beliefs and plunge straight into the words of the Gita as such....When one spends lot of time on Japa and meditation, things will be as clear as things in broad day light to illumine the concepts. One should spend very little time on interpretations/commentaries of various Acharyas---starting from that of Adi Shankara.,Sri Ramanuja [Ramanuja Gita Bhashyam],Sri Madhwa, Madhusudan Saraswati and others....I did spend considerable time, comparing the commentaries about five years ago....What a waste of time?---Instead read simple translations and meditate on the verses that appeal to you....If you do that even taking a few verses out of 700 verses, you will be drawn deep into the meaning/mystic spell  of the Gita.---

" Whosoever in the midst of intense activity finds intense peace, whosoever in the midst of the greatest peace finds the greatest activity,he is a Yogi;he is a great soul;he has arrived at perfection."
                                                                         ------------ Paramahansa Yogananda
This quote aptly explains the following verse from the Gita, which has confused many scholars and preachers:
  "He who sees  inaction in action, and action in inaction,
   is intelligent among men;he is a Yogi and a doer of all action."   --- BG [ 4-18]
The Lord said " "Yoga is skill in action"  ----[ BG [2-50]
When the doer ,whatever be the act ,be it charity, penance,teaching,and so on, realizes that he is only an instrument, a robot and the Lord is the real doer---has understood Karma Yoga correctly.
St Mother Teresa told that she is a small pencil in the hands of God.