Everyday Geeta

June 19, 2013 I came across Ron Finley thanks to the wonderful program on NPR's Ted Radio Hour called " Giving It Away" . It is full of wonderful stories of people who gave their time and energy to something bigger than themselves but not necessarily, something glamorous. They brought change the best way they know how. There are so many wonderful quotes for a Geeta lover - it is easy to connect these to the topic of Yajña spirit (cooperative endeavor for a higher cause) and generosity (दान). I can't resist quoting verbatim from the NPR program. RAZ is Guy Raz , the NPR presenter of the TED Radio Hour. RAZ: And his garden, it's literally in front of his house, on the sidewalk, open to the public 24/7. No formal invitation required. And in the beginning, the idea of a community garden on the sidewalk in South Central was so strange that his neighbors would mock him. They'd call him ... FINLEY: Ronny Appleseed. RAZ: Ronny Appleseed. FINLEY : I remember this ti...

June 18, 2013 Pujya Swami Mitranandaji was in the Chinmaya Seva Centre recently and answered questions raised by study group members. The session got off to a fantastic start with this question. Question: Can we understand the complexity of dharma? Swami Mitranandaji: Dharma can be expressed as a formula: Right Intention + Right Action = Dharma. Right intention, wrong action is adharma and so is wrong intention, right action. Of course, wrong intention and wrong action is adharma. Suppose, Duryodhana had approached Śrī Kṛṣṇa and said, "What is the meaning of this battle? Why fight? I want to wander around like a mendicant", Śrī Kṛṣṇa would probably have said, "You are right. Do it." That is Dharma for Duryodhana. Yet, when Arjuna said the same thing, Śrī Kṛṣṇa taught him the Bhagavad Geeta because for Arjuna that was adharma. So, on the face of it, we have the same situation, same Kŗşņa, yet a different answer. Therefore, it is right that dharma is a complex topi...

June 16, 2013 What a beautiful interview with AR Rahman ! In this interview, I found so many linkages to Śrī Kṛṣṇa's teaching in the Bhagavad Geeta. In the quote below, you can see shades of शरणागति (sharaNaagati - seeking refuge in or surrendering to the Lord). As the popular saying goes, "Let go and let God.." Q. While music excites you, what makes you feel low? Every time I sit for a song, I feel I am finished. It's like a beggar sitting waiting for God to fill your bowl with the right thought. In every song, I ask help from Him. Everybody around is so good, so to create music that will connect with so many people is not humanly possible without inspiration. He hints at the difference between ज्ञान / विज्ञान, knowledge & wisdom when he says: Q. Did you grudge her (his mother who adopted him) the decision of making you quit studying? At that time, from society's point of view, if you were not educated, you didn't have a life. You would probably become a...

June 9, 2013 In Bhagavad Geeta 6-8, there is an interesting phrase. समलोष्टाश्मकाञ्चनः ....to whom a lump of earth, a stone and gold are the same Literally, such a person described by this phrase could be considered a fool who is easily separated from his money. Personally, I recall my mother telling me the story of a stranger who approached my grandfather while travelling by train in India in the 60s. He claimed to be a jeweller and told that my grandfather that what he thought were diamond ear-rings were worthless. My grandfather came home to report how the kindly stranger did him a favor by offering to buy those off him for a small sum. My poor grandfather sold the earrings and never was forgiven for this by his daughters! Pujya Guruji Swami Tejomayanandaji in commenting upon this verse, puts it very all in context, very simply. He says (and what follows below is not a direct quote) that this सम or sameness (now you know where the English word comes from) implies a few things: Ea...