Buddhi-yoga

Bhagavad-Gita Explained

Chapter Two:

Atma-jñāna

by Michael Dolan/B.V. Mahayogi

Bhagavad-Gita Chapter 2 continued... March 11, 2019

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Ancient Dialogues 

It is useful to keep in mind that for all its philosophical rigor, the Bhagavad-Gita is not a doctoral thesis or an academic paper. It is ancient conversation recorded long before the talks of Socrates were edited into dialogues by Plato. Krishna advises his friend while Arjuna anxiously eyes the warriors lined up against him. They talk while armed men race about in chariots blowing war-trumpets. We may not expect an entirely disciplined discourse, footnoted for scholars. And yet, Krishna’s arguments follow a logical framework. Here in the second chapter Krishna lays the ground for the points that follow.

First Principles

His first teaching is important. He tells Arjuna to try to see things from a wider perspective: from the point of view of eternity.

The soul is immortal. All wisdom will flow from this. Krishna will uncover different levels of surrender to divinity culminating in complete dedication. But he wants Arjuna to explore the spiritual dimension first. This echoes the Vedanta-sutra’s athāto-brahma-jijñāsa: The human form of life is meant for inquiring into the nature of self; it is a gift for discovering spiritual reality. Soon we will discover a higher principle--that of divinity or God.

Bhagavad Gita and Theism

The Bhagavad-Gita is a profoundly monotheistic work. The word “Bhagavan” means God. In the course of the work we discover that Krishna claims divinity for Himself. It will be revealed that God may be understood as the Supreme Person. The inner meaning of the Mahābharata is seen in the Bhagavad-Gita which reveals Krishna as the Supreme Absoute Truth. Some may be uncomfortable with the insistence upon Krishna as God, but if we suspend our critical judgment long enough to enter into the teachings given here, we may learn something useful that helps our own faith. Anyone reading the Bible must accept that the Old Testament describes God as Yahweh. In order to truly enter the spirit of the Bhagavad-Gita we must likewise accept Krishna as Bhagavan at least for the duration of our reading.

Why God Appears

According to the text, when the earth was over-populated with tyrants and burdened by the weight of military might, God Himself appeared in the Krishna-avatar to diminish the burden by eliminating those puissant kings. The battle of Kurukshetra was to be their extinction. Krishna has empowered Arjuna with the task of removing such demonic kings.

And so Krishna asks Arjuna not only to do his duty as a soldier but to fight as an act of dedication to God Himself, the Supreme Person.

The idea of dedication to God is called Bhakti or divine love and bhakti is the true inner meaning of the Gita. Krishna will discuss in turn different religious practices, different concepts of duty, and distinct forms of yoga. Arjuna is rightly concerned with death. If he dies in battle, having murdered cousins, uncles, gurus, and grandfathers, perhaps he might go to hell. Before riding in to battle, he has questions: “What is the standard of proper behavior? How does karma affect us? What is the right path?”

Spiritual Wisdom: Buddhi-yoga

Krishna will answer his questions in due course, but he begins with the idea of spiritual wisdom. On the basis of spiritual wisdom we will come to the right conclusions about action. Krishna explains that such wisdom will ultimately lead one to see the value of dedication, bhakti.

The Buddha taught that right thinking and knowledge are key to proper vision, action, meditation and enlightenment. Krishna tells us that wisdom and a proper understanding of the soul are key to determining our true self-interest as spiritual entities: eternal dedication to divinity in love or bhakti.

He will go on to describe different kinds of processes that lead to self-realization and freedom from birth and death. He will talk of different “yogas” but at the heart of all these yogic processes is what he dubs here in the second chapter: buddhi-yoga.

Bhaktivinod Thakura has commented that “Krishna’s teaching will show that real wisdom--buddhi-yoga--is the central guiding principle behind all the other yogas described in the Gita. When the path of wisdom is limited by good deeds or intellectual “knowledge” it is karma-yoga, saṅkhya or jñāna-yoga. But true wisdom discovers the bhakti principle of dedication. This is the purport of buddhi-yoga and supercedes all other forms of yoga:  The highest wisdom is found in surrender and divine love--bhakti. 

La Ciencia del Atma

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Bhagavad-Gita

Capítulo Dos

La Ciencia del Atma

Por Michael Dolan/ B.V. Mahāyogi

Traducido por Teresa Loret de Mola, Tapanandini DD

A medida que el diálogo entre Kṛṣṇa y Arjuna avanza, Arjuna se preocupa de lo que ha de hacer. Ante la guerra inminente, quiere saber cuál es su posición ética.

Todos encaramos decisiones similares cotidianamente. ¿Qué es correcto e incorrecto? La filosofía occidental le llama “ética” a esto. En términos de la religión occidental es pecado o piedad. Ante la ley las acciones legales o ilegales. En la sociedad lo correcto e incorrecto, bien y mal, será incierto, dependiendo de la cultura. Algunos dicen que todo esto es relativo.

Los pensadores occidentales se basan en las tradiciones filosóficas y religiosas. Asi miden las teologías y mitologías extranjeras.  Incluso los estudios comparativos de religiones nos obligan a ver otros puntos de vista a través del lente de los pensadores occidentales

Y, sin embargo, oriente tiene un punto de vista muy distinto. El Mahābhārata, por ejemplo, está lleno de discusiones acerca del karma y el dharma, pero las ideas son algo diferentes de la visión occidental del bien y del mal. La cristiandad, por ejemplo, pretende que sólo tenemos una vida para vivir, y que cualquier acción equivocada nos puede conducir hacia la condenación eterna en el infierno. Esta doctrina de la condenación eterna es esencial para los fundadores de la Iglesia Católica. El alma también no es necesariamente eterna. La vida eterna está supeditada a aceptar a Cristo como el salvador personal. La forma oriental es diferente. En términos occidentales hablamos de acción ética y deberes religiosos, pero en términos orientales estos son llamados karma y dharma.

Pero incluso antes de tocar temas prácticos como la acción correcta, karma y dharma, la primera enseñanza de Kṛṣṇa a Arjuna es ontológica. Su discusión acerca del alma tiene importancia trascendental. Antes de hablar del karma, Kṛṣṇa explica que el alma es eterna, a pesar de la propia preferencia religiosa. Es la naturaleza constitucional del atma. Antes de discutir acerca del dharma en su posición ética, Kṛṣṇa nos habla acerca del dharma de la propia alma. Dharma en realidad significa “lo que nos sostiene” “lo que nos mantiene unidos”. Podemos decir que el dharma del azúcar es ser dulce. Si el azúcar no tiene dulzura ya no es azúcar. Así que cuál es el dharma del alma: existencia eterna en la dicha, sat-cit-ananda.

Pero Arjuna está preocupado acerca de lo que mantiene unida a la sociedad. No le inquieta la espiritualidad. Quiere entender el dharma en términos de deber. Si “lo que hacemos,” “para lo que vivimos”, “nos sostiene y nos une”, Arjuna quiere saber qué hacer y cómo vivir. Falla al ver la importancia de las enseñanzas de Kṛṣṇa acerca del alma. Hablar del alma es abstracto. Quiere un consejo concreto, no abstracciones ontológicas.

¿Entonces, qué son karma y dharma?

Normalmente se piensa en karma en términos de reacciones negativas, pero karma no es una mera reacción, es un rango entero de causa-efecto, y consecuencias. La acción o karma puede ser ética o antiética,  buena o mala, de acuerdo a si dicha acción es acorde con el deber, las leyes de la sociedad, las convenciones bíblicas o las normas y tradiciones culturales.

La dicotomía es arcaica. Platón insiste en un mundo ideal mientras que Aristóteles se enfoca en un mundo práctico. En la pintura de Rafael, “La Escuela de Atenas”, vemos a un Platón sabio y anciano que apunta a los cielos y a su discípulo Aristóteles señalando con las palmas hacia abajo que hay que mantenernos pisando tierra.

Conforme Kṛṣṇa enseña que no se puede controlar el medio ambiente a la fuerza, uno primero debe dominar el propio desarrollo espiritual, Arjuna argumenta por la posición ética en este mundo. Como veremos, los dos no se excluyen mutuamente. Pero una relación sana del guru con el discípulo ha de dejar espacio para discutir así como observamos en el diálogo entre Kṛṣṇa y Arjuna.

Pero como maestro Kṛṣṇa no es insensible a las necesidades de su estudiante. Anticipando su argumento, Kṛṣṇa regresa al problema ético del cómo actuar.

Tras explicar que el alma es eterna y que no puede ser asesinada, Kṛṣṇa señala que no hay necesidad de lamentarse. La pena es natural, pero Arjuna puede llorar más tarde. Ha de cumplir con su deber de guerrero, ya que está en la obligación de actuar; de hecho nada le dará mayor gloria que el morir en la batalla, o la infamia mayor de rehuir a la acción. Esa será la verdadera posición ética para Arjuna y su mejor acción kármica.  

Hay algo de superficialidad aquí como podremos ver más tarde, El deber o dharma tiene un significado más profundo. El deber hacia la familia, la sociedad, la patria, tal vez ayudan a encontrar protección al seguir el código de conducta. Pero hay un aspecto del dharma mucho más elevado, el deber hacia el interés del propio ser espiritual. Así que antes de entrar en una discusión del deber material de uno mismo, Kṛṣṇa le enseña que la percatación espiritual va primero.

Entonces el dharma, tiene dos aspectos: nuestro deber relativo hacia la familia, la sociedad, el país y los códigos de conducta tradicionales y el deber absoluto hacia uno mismo y hacia el propio Dios.

Arjuna tiene un dilema práctico. No está muy interesado en una discusión ontológica. Quiere limitar el debate a una discusión de valores más relativos.

En ese contexto, Kṛṣṇa le aconseja, “Cumple tu deber como guerrero” Pero Kṛṣṇa le señala acerca de la necesidad de un entendimiento más profundo: “Reconócete a ti mismo primero como un espíritu, un atma, como alma eterna.”

Toda otra acción ha de estar precedida de esta sabiduría.

Bhagavad Gita Chapter Two: Know Thyself.

Bhagavad-Gita Explained

Chapter Two:

Atma-jñāna

by Michael Dolan/B.V. Mahayogi

As the dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna continues, Arjuna is worried about what to do. Faced with imminent war,  he wants to know, what is his ethical position?

We all face similar decisions on a daily basis. What is right and what is wrong?  Western philosophy calls this "ethics." In terms of Western religion it is sin or piety. In the law there is legal and illegal action. In society it is right and wrong, good and bad. What is right or wrong seems to be in flux according to culture. Some say it is all relative.

Western thinking relies on its philosophical and religious traditions as a kind of yardstick by which it measures foreign theologies and mythologies. Even comparative religious studies force us to see other points of view through the lens of Western thinkers.

And yet the East has quite a distinct point of view. The Mahabharata, for instance, is filled with discussions about karma and dharma, but the ideas are quite different from Western views on good and evil. Christianity, for example, pretends that we have only one life to live, and that any mistaken actions can lead one to eternal damnation in hell. This doctrine of eternal damnation is considered essential by the founders of the Catholic Church. The soul is also not necessarily eternal. Eternal life is contingent on acceptance of Christ as one's personal savior. The Eastern way is distinct. In Western terms we talk about ethical action and religious duty, but in Eastern terms these are called karma and dharma.

But even before touching on such practical matters as right action, karma and dharma, Krishna's first teaching to Arjuna is ontological. His discussion on the soul has transcendental importance. Before talking about karma, Krishna explains that the soul is eternal--in spite of one´s religious preference. It is the constitutional nature of atma.  Before discussion dharma at the level of ethics, Krishna tells us about the dharma of the soul itself. Dharma really means "what sustains us" "what holds a thing together." We might say that the dharma of sugar is to be sweet. If sugar has no sweetness it is no longer sugar. So what is the dharma of the soul: eternal existence in bliss--sat-cit-ananda.

But Arjuna is worried about what holds society together. He´s not concerned with spirituality. He wants to understand dharma in terms of duty. If "what we do," "what we live for," sustains us and holds us together, Arjunaw ants to know what to do and how to live. He fails to see the importance of Krishna´s teaching about the soul. Talk about the soul is abstract. He wants some concret advice, not ontological abstraction.

What is karma and what is dharma, then?

Ordinarily we think of karma in terms of a negative reaction, but karma is not mere reaction, it is the entire range of action--cause, effect, and consequences. Action or karma may be ethical or unethical, good or bad according to whether such action is in keeping with duty, the laws of society, scriptural conventions or cultural norms and traditions.

The dichotomy is an age-old one. Plato insisted on the ideal world where Aristotle was focused on the practical world.  In Rafael's masterpiece, "The School of Athens," we see an older, wiser Plato pointing to the heavens as his disciple Aristotle signals palms down that we must stay grounded on Earth.

As Krishna teaches that one cannot control the environment by force, one must first master one's own spiritual development, Arjuna argues for an ethical position in this world. As we shall see, the two are not mutually exclusive.  But a healthy guru-disciple relationship should have room for discussion as we can see by the dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna.

But as a teacher Krishna is not insensitive to the needs of his student. Anticipating his argument, Krishna returns to the ethical problem of how to act. 

Having explained that the soul is eternal and cannot be slain, Krishna points out that there is no need for any lamentation. Grief is natural, but Arjuna can grieve later. He must do his duty as a warrior for he is bound to act--in fact nothing will give him greater glory than to die in battle, or greater infamy than to shrink from action. This will be the true ethical position for Arjuna and the best karmic action.

There is some superficiality here as we shall see later. Duty or dharma has a deeper meaning.  Duty to family, society and country may help one find perfection by following a code of conduct. But there is a much higher aspect of dharma--duty to one's own spiritual self-interest. So before entering into a discussion on one's material duty, Krishna teaches that spiritual awareness comes first.

Dharma, then, has a twofold aspect: our relative duty to family, society, country and the traditional codes of conduct--and absolute duty to one's own self and to God Himself. 

Arjuna has a practical dilemma. He is no so interested in so much ontological discussion. He wants to limit the debate to a discussion of more relative values. 

In that setting, Krishna advises him, "Do your duty as a soldier." But Krishna is pointing out the need for a deeper understanding: "Know thyself first as spirit, as atma, as eternal soul."

All other action must be predicated on this wisdom.