Hari OM
From 8/4/19 to 12/4/19, Pujya Swami
Swaroopananda-ji presented evening discourses to the public at the Merrylands
Civic Centre, NSW Australia. The focus of his talks this year was Chapter 2 of
the Bhagavad Gita, and more specifically, shlokas 1-32. Some of the learning
and insights will be shared over several posts.
Yesterday, we explored a little further - as did Swami-ji - the
context of Arjuna's conundrum in relation to our own existence. It was made
abundantly clear that, for the most part, the life we live is filled with
inconsistencies, unnecessariness, soap-opera stuff. How often we get caught up
in dramas - begging the question, how often do we want to be 'the king or
queen' of that drama?
None of us ever is, in truth, for these ego manifestations are
nothing but shadow play. The Real Star is above it all - watching.
Shri Krishna continues;
The one who thinks that Aatmaa is a slayer,
And the one who thinks that Aatmaa is slain,
Both are ignorant,
Because Aatmaa neither slays nor is slain.
The Aatmaa is neither born
Nor does it die at any time,
nor having (taken form) will it cease to exist again.
It is unborn, eternal, permanent, and primeval.
The Aatmaa is not destroyed when the body is destroyed.
O Arjuna, how can a person
Who knows that the Aatmaa is indestructible, eternal,
Unborn, and imperishable,
kill anyone or cause anyone to be killed?
There are some among us who hand over all our 'destiny' as being
under a Higher Power's charge and thus take no responsibility for actions,
laying it all at 'his feet'. Then again, there are those who deny any form of
Higher Power at all.
The second of this little group of verses tells us that there is a Higher Power, here called as the Aatmaa,
which exists. That is all it does. It holds no sway upon our actions, even when
it splits itself into forms of various kinds, and neither is it in any way sullied by any actions which occur in its presence. The Higher Power exists
within us, it experiences life through the physical manifestation, but it does
not in any way get affected by this. We can choose to live our lives with or
without a connection to that Higher Power, and it will not be the least bit bothered.
What is important for us to know, however, is that in carrying out
our duties and tasks in life, that Higher Power, the Aatmaa, cannot be damaged
from them.
We are left, then, with only the philosophical and ethical aspects
of what we do and the effects thereof. Even atheists believe in ethics. Ethics
can only arise where a philosophy exists and philosophy deals with the
existence of the human critter, its purpose in the world and how best to
negotiate the life it is given.
If we have chosen the Gita as our 'ethical text', then we are asked
at this point by the Higher Power manifest as Krishna, "knowing we are
nothing but that Aatmaa - how can we talk in terms of killing or being
killed?"
This will be explored a little further in the next post.
