Sunday 28 October 2012

Lessons from the Gita

I found this simple article from MG Singh's pages illustrating an important verse in the Gita, that we may control our ego and thus break free from our karma. I have edited it a little to improve its flow.

Lessons from The Gita

Einstein added a 4thdimension to man’s thinking: He brought forth the concept of time in Physics, but Man has always understood the concept of time and we usually relate it to the past. The past is an event that has happened and can never be reconstructed again. The Gita talks of past in a philosophical way It says that past will never come back and man should learn lessons from the past and move ahead.
. The human mind however is a complex mechanism and memory plays a very important part in a man’s life. Thus the past remains in our thoughts and many times we are conditioned in our future actions by what we have experienced in the past. This is the danger and the Gita points out that the past must never be allowed to condition the future. A man must move forward and not be shackled by what happened in the past.

Unfortunately most men are conditioned to act by what happened in the past. Most of the issues that shackle us are vestiges from the past. We are unable to shed the load. Man has a sensitive mind and thus he becomes a prisoner of the past and is constrained by perceived hurts which many will not forget.
This also applies to nations which are made up of men and women. The past haunts and conditions the present and the future. An example is the feud between China and japan which is rooted in the past.
 This also applies to our own lives. Man is apt to dwell in the past and much condition their approach to what happened earlier in their lives. The Gita warns against this danger. Man should not allow himself to become a prisoner of the past. One can draw lessons but one must also forget and move forward. The world is a beautiful place and it will be sad if a man's actions are conditioned by what happened in the past. Thus revenge, anger and jealousy create a vicious cycle that is hard to break, 
The core of the problem is over-inflated egos and utter selfishness; it applies to men and nations in equal measure. This is the quality that must be controlled. Lord Krishna has demonstrated that ego has no place in the world. His is the sublime example as in the Mahabharata he became a chariot driver of Arjuna though He was a great warrior and God. He demonstrated that though he had the power to influence the outcome of the world's events, it is as a teacher and guide that is His glory and not as the warrior who gains victory on the battefield.
It is for man to take the next step so that he can break free from the clutches of the past and then one will realize that the best is yet to come. 

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