Beyond The Noise: The Bhagavad Gita, Ch2, Verses 42-44

What is it like to get beyond the noise to experience true oneness? This week, we will be diving into Chapter 2, verses 42-44. In these weekly lectures, we focus on specific ancient teachings that we can all apply to our day-to-day lives and personal spiritual journey!

Transcript

So today we are reading from. . . Bhagavad Gita. And this is a conversation between Arjuna, The hero who is all of us. And Krishna, His teacher, His lord, His divine guidance, And Krishna in the verses we're going to look at today, He's trying to give Arjuna a different perspective on life. Like I remember, So back when I was 29, I was sick, I had breast slumps, Lots of you guys know this story, And I met a man named Jim. Who turned out to be. My. Krishna. At that time. And not that he would ever have, I mean, Whenever I tell him that I call him my guru, He's like, Oh, For God's sake, Katrina. Just so not like that. If you met him you'd be like. . . Because there's no flowing robes, There's no anything. He's just a guy that likes to hang out with his grandkids and play cards and hunt. He's just a guy. But he is an incredible, Gifted, Enlightened human. And being around him and talking to him. Changed. How I saw the world. Because he didn't live like other people. Like on the outside, You'd think he did. But that's not how we saw the world. And so it changes you to spend time with people like that. This is what's happening between Arjuna and Krishna. Krishna is offering an entirely different way of seeing the world. And Arjuna in this moment is very lost and very despondent. And therefore quite open. So today we're looking at chapter two, And we're actually looking at three verses. Verse 42, 43, And 44. And I'm reading from the Stephen Mitchell's version. But they're all wonderful. All right, You ready? Foolish men talk of religion in cheap, Sentimental words. Leaning on the scriptures, Quote. God speaks here. And God speaks here alone. Driven by desire for pleasure and power. Caught up in ritual. They strive to gain heaven. But rebirth is the only result of their striving. They are lured by their own desires, Besotted by the scripture's words. Their minds have not been made clear. By the practice of meditation. Okay, I'm going to read it again. Foolish men talk of religion. In cheap, Sentimental words. Leaning on the scriptures, Quote, God speaks here and speaks here alone. Driven by desire for pleasure and power. Caught up in ritual. They strive to gain heaven. But rebirth is the only result of their striving. They are lured by their own desires. Besoughted by the scriptures' words. Their minds have not been made clear. By the practice of meditation. What comes to you when you hear that? Thoughts or words or feelings. A revelation of the illusions of religiosity. It seems to mean that there is a rebirth, But not an awakening. Mm-hmm. Yes. The Supreme is within us. Fools rush in where wise men fear to tread. Mmhmm. It felt like. . . One self speak with his autistic other side as wired different. Think of the useless struggles to be religious but not changed within, Looking for outward gains. The Tao that cannot be named is not the eternal Tao. I'd like to read you something that Paramahansa Yogananda said. His actual interpretation of this is so wordy, I don't even want to read it. It's not helpful. But his interpretation of it's very interesting, So. It's a paragraph, So let's just take a breath or anything. So here's what he says. Those who are attached to sense pleasures and powers. Weather of the Material World. Or astral in nature. Cannot gain the mental equilibrium of meditation. They fail to receive union with God through ecstasy. Misled by specious words of the unenlightened. Desire infected. And paradise loving. Eagerly scanning the scriptures about a profitable heaven. Rejoicing in the rhetoric of holy writ. And exuberant in performing outer ceremonies that promise gifts of pleasure and power. Here and in the hereafter. Such men lose all of their spiritual discrimination and seek no higher aspiration. Their actions. Filled with desire. So inexorable seeds of births and deaths. What about that one? What does that mean? Kind of bring up for you. Meditation as connection to source or God is more truthful than institutional ceremony or power. Totally. Addictions in all realms. Yes. Isn't that interesting? We think. Oh well, It's not about just getting money. But it is okay to have like. . . Streets made of gold in heaven. And somehow these are different. Images of church life and climbing that church ladder. Very interesting. So we're going to go through it a little bit bit by bit. So I'm going to go back into Stephen Mitchell's version here. So verse 42. Foolish men. So just so you know. Stephen Mitchell normally when he translates religious scripture He often will. Interplay men and women Like when he did his Tao Te Ching. Which is the version that I have a recording here on Insight Timer. He actually interspersed male and female, Which was really beautiful. But in this one, He actually specifically said, I didn't change that. I left it as man. Because it felt truer to the intent, The original intent, Because it was written in a time. I don't want to say any more than that because I'm going to. . . Going to go beyond his original meaning but he actually just so just if you're noticing that it's always men men men men He was aware of it and it was a conscious choice. That was different than his normal choice. So just so you know. Foolish men talk of religion. In cheap, Sentimental words. Leaning on the scriptures. God speaks here and speaks here alone. So when he's talking about foolish men, What he's talking about. Is how maybe even the vast majority of people. Who are teaching. Religion, Whether they're a priest, A minister, Or even if they're a spiritual teacher in the new age movement or all over the place. They're teaching things from. Their own not just unenlightened, But inexperienced place. And what I mean by inexperienced is, They've never experienced oneness with God. They've never felt. The ecstasy and joy. Of union. Maybe they've gone to the seminary. Maybe they've read lots of books. But they've never had the experience. Of oneness. And this is a problem. When we've never experienced the oneness. How would we actually teach it? We're going to rely on ritual. We're going to rely on words. We're going to rely on things. That we don't understand. So for example, Like in the Christian world, World. There is these promises that, Oh, No, No, Like right now you're going to suffer. But if you do these rituals, When you die, You'll go to heaven. And every person has a mansion. And the streets are lined in gold. And in other religions, You know, And you will have 40 wives and you will have all everything you've ever wanted. This is the language of someone who's never actually experienced. Oneness. They've never experienced communion with the divine. Because if they had, They would know. That all of that is a metaphor. For the ecstasy you feel. In that oneness. They would know that. And they would never teach it like it's just. Like a cartoon version of your best life. So the problem is, The vast majority of people because we've and not because they're evil or bad people or there. I mean, There are people who want to mislead you to make money and to, You know, Charismatic leaders that just suck the money out of everybody. You know, There are those. But the vast majority of church. Preachers and and even spiritual teachers in new age movements and things like that. They're not bad people. They're trying to look, They're trying to find the same thing. Hope and happiness and healing that we all are. But the danger of teaching. Is that if you've never experienced it, You're just going to regurgitate it. Ceremony is part symbolism, Part theatrics, Unless it's imbued with an embodied heart and soul. Exactly. They're regurgitating what's been taught and upheld without personal knowledge. Theology as a study is mental, Mysticism is felt, Right? And that's the difference. And so for even right there. One of the great teachings of my teacher, Jim, As he used to talk about. Reference points. And he said to me when I was sick, He said, You need to find reference points in your life. That you are beyond. Duality. Like even right now. I'd love for you to think about this. Or remember a moment or experiences you've had. That somehow transcend time and space. For me, It's moments when my children would be sleeping at night and I would go up and stand by their door to check on them. And the whole world fell away. Sometimes it's moments looking at the stars. Sometimes it's the most strange moments. It's even sometimes moments of grief. That you're so taken over by it. You suddenly feel truth. We've all had these little moments. Even if they're just a second. Like the very fact. That you are here on Insight Timer. Means you have had a moment. You know, Like that Leonard Cohen, That the crack is where the light comes in. We've all had a crack. Or we've had many. Even though we may be still completely lost in the physical world. There's something in there. We know. And the key to all of our spiritual practice, No matter what it is you do, Whether it's ecstatic dance or automatic writing, Journaling. Or yoga or meditation. Whatever it is. If you do that practice based on one of those reference points, Your soul will grow. It won't just be ceremony. You won't just be going through the motions. And this is the point, Like all of us have it. And that's the place we have to share from. If we share, We don't have to share. But that's the place where we grow from. That's the first, The first stanza here. Actually, Let's just go back for a minute. I would love for you to share in the chat. A moment like that for you. When do you feel? Like you are beyond. The 3D world or duality. I would love to know if you could share it in the chat. Listening to the waves at the beach and interacting with the water. When dancing or making art. I felt it when lovemaking. During childbirth. Laughing with my son. Or watching the details on hummingbirds. When I was with my grandmother when she passed. Sitting under the stars and watching the fireflies. Walking in the rain. Touching the trunk of a really old tree. When I am completely lost in thought. Then come back to the beautiful moment, Noticing a flower or a butterfly. When I'm doing my work or painting. When I'm doing something that brings me joy, Like walking or needle pointing. Needle painting. When I am contemplating the teachings of the Gita. Looking in the eyes of a deer during my morning walk. Watching the wind massaging the trees. While paying attention to people. Deep in nature. Can you guys feel that? Getting lost in a song. Nature photography in Qigong. Laughing uncontrollably with my mom. This is so important, Like feel that. This is the foundation. Of all spiritual practice. So we're going to slip on to the next one. Actually the next two. Driven by desire for pleasure and power. Caught up in ritual, They strive to gain heaven. But rebirth. Is the only result of their striving. They are lured by their own desires. Besotted by the scripture's words. Their minds have not been made clear. By the practice of meditation. So this is really interesting. This is all about asking ourselves, Why? Are we doing a spiritual practice? For some people. They might say. Well, I want to gain something. So in classic institutionalized Christianity, You do these rituals so that you gain heaven, So that you gain the mansions and the golden streets and the life of non-suffering. And to avoid hell. So it's like you're basically still doing the same patterns and things. The Gita is based in a an understanding of reincarnation. And karma. And the idea of karma. It's simply a pattern. That you're repeating over and over and over and over again. And this is what causes us to keep being reborn. In this world. And it keeps us going in these cycles of suffering. So if what if our pattern in the world is well i simply want a bigger house and then i want another car and then i want a prettier wife and then i want a hotter husband and then i want another hundred thousand dollars and then i want to be skinny And then I want to be strong. And then I want to be youthful. And then I want to, And then I want to, And then I want to, And then I want to. You can feel this cycle, Even within a singular lifetime. And if we continue in this cycle, The theory is that when we pass out of this body, We simply inhabit another body and continue this energetic pattern. Because the energy doesn't change with the body, It continues. So if we simply take that pattern and put it into the astral plane and say, And now I want my own mansion in heaven, And then I want 40 wives, And then I want a life of no suffering, And then I want to be wealthy for the rest of eternity, It's no different. Like it doesn't matter the language we use, The energetic pattern is exactly the same. And of course, It also means that it's never going to work. And this is where the spiritual world, The spiritual community gets really weird worldwide. It's like. . . The movie The Secret or the book The Secret when it came out. There are some fundamental truths in there. But again, They're mixed up. In this weird thing that, Oh, All you have to do is take $1, 000 bill. Paste it to your ceiling and every morning you're going to wake up and see it and you're going to manifest wealth. And what are the laws of attraction? It all twists it into this whole thing of desiring stuff in 3D, Desiring stuff in duality. But we're completely missing the point. It's like, Imagine a radio signal. And in your deepest soul. Your soul seeks. Oneness with God. Not because God is something great and wonderful, But because it's who you are. When we experience oneness, We realize that we are one with the universal one. Yoga. By definition, Means the union. Of our individual self. With the Universal Self. Because that's our true nature. Not because it's something interesting and God is some great king in the in the sky. Those are all the weird interpretations that we have. If that's what we desire, Now imagine we're like tuning a radio and we're trying to get to that channel in our soul. So we feel this bliss and happiness of oneness. But then someone comes along and says, If you meditate this way every day for 20 minutes, You'll be a millionaire. Or you will be pain free, Or you will find the love of your life, Or you will be able to manifest anything you want. It's like all this static is on the line now. You're always going to be tuning in to the million dollars, To the perfect partner, To the pain-free body, To the whatever. And you're going to miss it. But instead, Imagine that we don't have any of those promises. Like, Imagine we're not doing it. Get anything. We just. Want to feel oneness. We just want to feel union. With the universal one. Can you guys feel how different that feels? Imagine meditating. And doing it. Not because you want to become. Spiritually interesting not because you want it not even see this is where it's interesting because We say, Oh, I want to meditate to calm my mind. Oh, I want to meditate to become well. Oh, I want to meditate so that I'm, And these are, This all will happen. That there's something weird when it's the goal. Because then you sit down. And your mind's going in a million directions that day. And you think, Darn it! I'm not doing it! I suck at this. But what if instead the goal of meditation was to intimately know self. Was to merge with who you truly are. Well, Then all of a sudden you're sitting there. You're breathing deeply and your mind is flowing into all these places in your life. It's flowing into the places of struggle. Emotional places. And instead, You're watching yourself thinking, Wow. We're really in a tough bind here. Let's dive deeper. Let's look into it. Because the goal is union. The goal is understanding all these little parts and bringing them together. And as we sort of go, Like meditation becomes almost like a a journey of soul retrieval and you gather all these little pieces of who you are together to create oneness. How different is that? Imagine you sit down to do yoga, Whether you do hatha yoga or kundalini yoga. And the only goal. Is to bring together all the parts of it. That you are inside. Or to truly know self, Or to truly love self. Or to feel your greatest self. And then all of a sudden you know there's a difficulty. And this is an opportunity to dive deeper. Deeper into the breath, Deeper into the mind, Deeper into the body. As soon as we introduce external goals. The whole practice becomes very strange and external, And it's not what it was ever designed for. The kingdom of heaven is within exactly, Patricia. The Great Way is not difficult for those who have no preferences. So a great passion of mine is Tantra. I love teaching the spiritual aspects of tantra. And I also love teaching how it applies in your life. I love talking about how it changes raising children. I love teaching how it changes lovemaking. But again, How much tantra now? Is equated with having three hour orgasms, Or being these great lovers, Or something like that. We will never ever experience the oneness that Tantra teaches. If that's the goal. Like imagine trying to make love with someone. And you have this goal in your mind that I want to have a prolonged orgasm, Or I want to make love, You know, It's so external, It's almost painful to think of. Instead, Imagine instead you're in a relationship with someone in or out of the bedroom. But the goal is union. Whether it's union within. But it's genuine compassionate union with the other person. How entirely different that is. Imagine saying, You know, If your goal in the relationship is, I just want us to have great sex. Versus I want to intimately connect with you. Sitting in the living room. Cooking together. Going for a car ride on a Sunday afternoon. The goal is union. Well, Then what happens in the rest of the life? What happens in the bedroom? What happens? Well, It's exactly the same. And then wonderful things come of that. But you can't. You can't put the goal first. Or you can't put the external goal first. Those are the things that just happen in time. The depth of winter i finally learned that within me There lay an invincible summer. Albert Camus. That is so beautiful. But that is such a beautiful point. That somewhere along the line, We were taught that all joy lies outside of us. When the reality is we are a miracle. Like inside of us is this. Perpetual. Blissful, Expansive space. You know, There's nothing out there that's greater than the bliss we can experience inside. And don't get me wrong, This is not a short journey. We've all lived in this world. We've all been raised by people who very likely had never contemplated a spiritual path. And we're unconsciously repeating the patterns that happened to them growing up. And then who are raised by people like them and blah, Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah. So we were raised by people who. . . Didn't necessarily know the power of their influence. Then we went to school. That basically trained us to be factory workers. And listen for the bell and get the gold star. And then maybe we got married, Or maybe we didn't. Then maybe we got the job, Or maybe we went to school. But it was all external. And when someone even asks us, You know, Oh, How, They'll ask me, You know, Like, How are your kids doing? And I'll say, Oh, They're really happy. And it's like they want to know where they work. Or they want to know what their relationship status is. Which has nothing to do with how they're doing. Whether they're a rocket scientist or a taxi driver, Or a teacher, Or they're unemployed. Who cares? That has nothing to do with how they're doing. And yet, Everything is based in this external world. So if we find ourselves struggling with what I'm saying, This idea that we have this blissful state inside that we can access. Totally cool. That's why. We have some kind of spiritual practice. That expands us from exactly where we are right now. So whether it's meditation and when you're meditating, Imagining the feeling that you feel. When you're walking in nature. Or sitting in meditation and feeling what it feels like. To be sitting by the ocean. Or remembering any of those reference points that we talked about earlier. And then we just grow from there. And it just slowly has these little ripple effects out into our consciousness, Out into our lives. But of course, As you can see, There's no goal. The goal is just the expansion of that feeling. And then. . . The crazy thing is, Is things happen that you could never have imagined. You know, And then all of a sudden 10 years from now, You're sitting there. And you're thinking, Wow, I never would have seen this. I never could have imagined this. I never could have put this on a vision board. I like vision boards. Nothing against vision boards. It's interesting. I've always been drawn to Taoism. I love Taoism. I love the Tao Te Ching. And I love all the teachings of Taoism. There are two very strong branches of Taoism. There's the original Taoism. By Lao Tzu. That is very much accepting of nature. It's accepting that. True happiness is like water. And it flows in the low parts of life. It's about understanding the nature of life, Of the life-death-life cycles, Of the nature of people. One of my favorite books is called The Tao of Pooh, P-O-O-H. And it's all about understanding one aspect of this book. If you know the stories of Winnie the Pooh. That there are people in the world who are like piglets. And they are eternally afraid of everything. There are people in the world who are like owl, Always pontificating and they know everything. There are people like Rabbit who always want to work, Work, Work, Work, Work. Why aren't you working as hard as I am? There are people who are like Tigger, Who bounce, Bounce, Bounce, Never having any responsibilities. They just want to do all these fun things. There are people like Eeyore who always see the negative in everything, No matter what. In the DAO. Tehching would teach us to simply accept people for who they are. And invite them all to the birthday party. Just love them. Love them for their busyness, For their know-it-all-ness, For their depression, For their fears. Love them all. So this is what Taoism is. It's this beautiful thing about how to merge with reality. By merging with it. And not trying to control it. But somewhere along the line. Somebody. Decided. That they wanted to be immortal. Because in the stories of Taoism, There are stories of the immortals. Anyway, A group of people decided. . . But they also wanted to become like the immortals. And this whole other branch of Taoism was born. Where you want to reserve your energy and you don't want to ejaculate and you want to only have so many breaths a day and you have to do all these practices to reserve energy and do this and do that and blah blah blah with the goal of immortality. It's not even like original Taoism. It's like the opposite of Taoism. And so suddenly now you spend your whole life doing all these weird, Gymnastics to achieve immortality. Which was never accomplished. And when you feel how different that is, Here's all the things you have to do to achieve immortality. Again, There's this external. Desire. So that we are exalted, So that we are interesting, So that we whatever. Instead of the original Taoism that said, But look what a miracle the world is. What a miracle this is. Enjoy it. Love it. Embrace the trees. Embrace the water. Embrace the sunshine. Embrace being alive. Why seek for this extra human power? What's the newer path called? I don't know how to say this, I've only ever read it. And I can't exactly remember it. I think it's X-I-A-N, Something like that. You can't quote me on it, It's something like that. So I'm going to reread the three stanzas. Foolish men talk of religion. In cheap, Sentimental words. Leaning on the scriptures. God speaks here. And speaks here alone. Driven by desire for pleasure and power. Caught up in ritual, They strive to gain heaven. But rebirth is the only result of their striving. They are lured by their own desires. Besotted by the scripture's words. Their minds have not been made clear. By the practice of meditation. Wasn't it the aristocracy of the time who were obsessed with having god-like powers? Oh. That would make a lot of sense. Yeah, And especially where it came from. So I'd like you to imagine. Your favorite spiritual practice. Whatever that is, It doesn't have to be sitting on a yoga mat. Whatever it is that brings you closest. To what you desire. Could be yoga, Could be meditation, Could be horseback riding, Could be walking in the woods, Could be. . . Serving in a soup kitchen. It could be anything. But just, I want you to imagine your. . . Actually, Let's back that up. Let's imagine a practice that is solitary. And it's just you. And God and oneness, Okay? So what's your favorite practice? All by yourself, Just you. And now imagine. Doing that practice. Because you want to achieve something. We want to get something out of this practice. So just imagine what that feels like in your body, In your mind, In your soul. And now imagine doing that practice. With the question inside. Who am I? What's the difference that you feel inside? Between what can I get. What can I achieve out of this practice? And asking the question, Who am I? Curiosity opens us up. The first question implies scarcity. And it immediately shifts me into that state of mind. Void versus possibility. The one where we have the goal sets us up for self-judgment. A human being who has transformed themselves through intense spiritual, Mental, Physical concentration. Striving in force versus allowing a natural unfurling. Mm-hmm. Achievement versus being. Mm-hmm. I love that. The first question I felt is cheap. The second I felt the quietness. But I enjoy all the other thoughts. Okay. Awesome. So yes, Whatever your practice is to just. . . Dive into that place that you already feel. We've all got it. Well, Thank you so much. I hope you have a wonderful day and a wonderful week or a wonderful evening, Wherever you are. And we'll see you next week. See you later.