Welcome.
I'm Rachel Peoples and I'm so glad you're here for today's meditative reading on finding courage.
Journey with me as we explore contemplative readings from Eknath Aswaran's the Bhagavad Gita for daily living.
Yoga Nanda describes the Bhagavad Gita as a universal scripture,
The name of which means psalm of the Spirit.
It is the divine communion of truth,
Realization between man and his Creator,
The teachings of Spirit through the soul that should be sung unceasingly.
It is said that all the underlying essential truths of all great world scriptures can find common amity in the infinite wisdom of the Gita's mere 700 concise verses.
As we read each selection of verses together,
We will pause to allow for reflection and guided meditation.
You may choose to grab your journal and a pen or pencil to capture your thoughts or simply find a comfortable position to sit or lie down and let it all sink in.
The Gita is a spiritual and philosophical writing that opens on the eve of a mighty battle.
When the warrior Arjuna is overwhelmed by despair and refuses to fight,
He turns to his charioteer Krishna who counsels him on why he must.
In the dialogue that follows,
Arjuna comes to realize that the true battle is for his own soul.
The Gita reflects insights into the struggle for self-mastery that we all must wage.
So from chapter 1 verses 30 through 32.
This first chapter is called The War Within.
Here is some of the commentary from Eknath Eswaran.
Start to listen to these words and reflect on your own life.
What struggles you face,
What courage you might need to come to bring to bear.
Arjuna is suffering from a very contemporary malady,
Paralysis of the will.
This is the crux of many of our problems.
We say we want to put an end to war,
Yet we go on making missiles,
Guns,
Tanks and bombs and arming other countries in the name of peace.
We are alarmed about violence,
Yet we let our children watch hour after hour of violent television programs.
We are concerned about pollution,
But we pour pollutants by the ton into our rivers and oceans.
We make the air unfit to breathe and strip the earth of irreplaceable resources.
Even when we can clearly see the urgency of stopping pollution and putting an end to violence,
We lack the will and the wisdom to translate our desire into effective action.
Though Arjuna deplores the state of inertia and self-pity,
He is unable to shake it off.
This is often our problem too.
We can diagnose our shortcomings and even give a brilliant synopsis of the world's woes,
But as long as our knowledge is limited to intellectual analysis,
We will not have the capacity to make the world more peaceful.
We will not be able to prevent pollution or even bring together estranged families and friends.
It is the deeper will and wisdom which come through meditation that enable us to tap the creative resources and untiring energy lying latent in our consciousness.
Close your eyes.
Take a few deep breaths.
Breathing in.
Breathing out.
What call to action is lying deep within you?
What wisdom can you access?
What creative resources can you bring to bear?
What energy lies within you,
Ready to be accessed,
Ready to be brought forth to work toward your goals?
You may keep your eyes closed if you're in a safe environment to do so.
Take a moment to journal or simply sit in stillness as I continue the reading.
Looking at the opposing army,
Arjuna is plunged into confusion.
His special bow,
Gandiva,
Slips from his grasp and his mind reels at the prospect of fighting.
This confrontation comes to all of us who are in earnest about putting an end to the cause of our sorrow and suffering.
Our petty little personality driven by self-will.
Success in the spiritual path requires the highest kind of courage we can muster.
For every ounce of our strength and resolution will be tested.
It was my spiritual teacher,
My mother's mother,
Who showed me through the example of her own life that it is the non-violent person who cannot be frightened.
The violent person can always be threatened with greater violence.
If you want to see real bravery,
Look at the person who is patient under attack,
Who will not retaliate,
Who will not suffer rather than inflict suffering on others.
This is the heroic ideal Jesus the Christ gives us to follow.
Love your enemies,
Bless them that curse you,
Do good to them that hate you,
And pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you,
That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven.
Shri Krishna,
In his infinite grace,
Helps Arjuna find the source of strength within himself just as he enables us when we turn to him to become patient when attacked,
Forbearing when provoked,
And loving when hated.
This is the way we grow fearless and strong enough to grapple with the grave problems that threaten our world.
Maybe it's not the world problems that you're concerned about that consume you.
Today,
Maybe it's something within your own life,
Close to home.
What are you allowing in your life currently that causes you sorrow and suffering?
What courage can you muster to address those things?
What is it that frightens you in your own life?
How can you remain steady and calm as you start to fight back against that fear,
As you start to challenge your acceptance of that which is causing you sorrow or suffering?
What good can you bring into your heart,
Into your mind,
Into your life,
And into those lives around you?
Take a few moments to reflect,
To come back to your breathing.
What mastery of self can you practice today?
