The Bhagavad Gita is perhaps the single most important text in Hinduism. It is one chapter from the epic the
Mahabharata. The frame story of the Mahabharata is a battle
between cousins over who has the right to rule. Both sides claim legitimacy, and
when they cannot settle an issue peacefully, they prepare for war.
On the eve of great Mahabharata battle, Arjuna asked his charioteer to drive their chariot out to the front line so he could look over the opposition he must face the next day. As he looked at his foes, he recognized his favorite teacher,
Drona, and his beloved grand uncle, Bhishma, and many other relatives and friends. Horrified to realize that he must kill the very people he loved, he threw down his bow and arrow and told Krishna he would not fight."
What is the point of this epic tale? Find out this and more as we study some of the principle incarnations of God and their stories in our inquiry into the Hindu Pantheon.
Each incarnation of the Divine in the Hindu Pantheon has its own attributes to be emulated and worshipped. Discover what these sacred stories can offer to your own understanding of God.
How do we know how to practice? From the Bhagavad Gita:
Arjuna: "Some worship you with steadfast love. Others worship God the unmanifest and changeless. Which kind of devotee has the greater understanding of yoga?"
Sri Krishna:
"Those whose minds are fixed on me in steadfast love, worshipping me with
absolute faith. I consider them to have the greater understanding of yoga.
"As for those others, the devotees of God the unmanifest, indefinable and changeless, they worship that which is omnipresent, constant, eternal, beyond thought's compass, never to be moved. They hold all the senses in check. They are tranquil minded, and devoted to the welfare of humanity.
They see the Atman
in every creature. They also will certainly come to me."
Yoga means union -- union of the individual soul with God. Here the word "Yoga" is used for methods through which the individual soul unites with God. "Working on Yoga" means practicing meditation and other methods which develop meditation, like asana,
pranayama, yama and niyama. This practice should be done with faith, devotion, and continuous effort. One who practices in this manner attains
samadhi, and the result of samadhi is attainment of truth, peace, higher knowledge, God. When this stage is attained, Yoga (union) will free one from the cycle of birth and death.
Fire Without Fuel by Baba Hari Dass
Required Reading:
MEETING GOD
Comments on the text for our
studies
"Like many another cultural anthropologist, Huyler has developed considerable photographic skills. They prove vital to his presentation of a dazzlingly colorful topic, Hindu religious rituals, or
pujas. In each of nine chapters, Huyler first presents one person preparing for and practicing a
puja, usually solitarily and usually near or at home but sometimes in a temple and with others, and then he explains its functions and meanings. Morning devotions, family worship (the family is of primary importance in Hinduism), healing rituals, sacred processions, festivals and holy days, and the spiritual preparations of old age for death are among the specific
pujas discussed. The central Hindu concept of many gods expressing a single, universal divine principle surfaces
often in the text, and Huyler's deep affection for the holy character of
everyday life in Hindu India is plain. But 200 big color photos constitute the
most powerful attraction of this complement to an exhibition that opens in
Houston this fall and thereafter travels to Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles.
Ray Olson
Copyright© 1999, American Library Association.
All rights reserved
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