Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Now where do we start! Discuss or just enjoy.
How's this - your everyday basic verse from the Bhagavad Gita, Ch 10 v 4-5, out of 18 chapters.
One translation;
''From Me alone arise the varieties of qualities in humans, such as intellect, knowledge, clarity of thought, forgiveness,
truthfulness, control over the senses and mind, joy and sorrow, birth and death, fear and courage, non-violence,
equanimity, contentment, austerity, charity, fame, and infamy.''
Sometimes people will have an issue with Hinduism and other religions calling God - ''He''.
It is common for authors to state: 'For the sake of simplicity throughout my book I will use
the pronoun He for God, tho, God has no gender."
I answered a friend that got angry that I would say He, I said,'' Ya know what, if it was ok with Jesus to say He and Father...it's good enough for me."
Another friend got upset I would say 'Lord' sometimes.
You just can't please everyone! I say, substitute in your head 'She' or Goddess or Creator...
rather then throw out the baby with the bath water.
Once you have experienced the Majesty, Magnificence and Power that this Spirit, this Being is -
you may understand why a 'He' is used. It just feels masculine! And not a 'man', either.
A quote from a Hindu Teacher (whether yogi, swami, guru, rishi ...who knows - so I say simply 'teacher'.)
“Mankind is engaged in an eternal quest for that “something else” he hopes will bring him happiness, complete and unending. For those individual souls who have sought and found God, the search is over: He is that Something Else.”
Paramahansa Yogananda
Last edited by Miss Hepburn; 05-13-2023 at 11:02 AM..
Reason: Reduce all the spaces!
Now where do we start! Discuss or just enjoy.
How's this - your everyday basic verse from the Bhagavad Gita, Ch 10 v 4-5, out of 18 chapters.
One translation;
''From Me alone arise the varieties of qualities in humans, such as intellect, knowledge, clarity of thought, forgiveness,
truthfulness, control over the senses and mind, joy and sorrow, birth and death, fear and courage, non-violence,
equanimity, contentment, austerity, charity, fame, and infamy.''
Nice beginning Miss H!
I have actually never seriously studied the Gita, always in translations and commentaries.
This is an invitation to get to the texts of V4-5, ch 10.
Would it be a good idea to move this to a separate thread on The Bhagavad Gita and discuss these verses?
Would it be a good idea to move this to a separate thread on The Bhagavad Gita and discuss these verses?
Go ahead....I'm wondering if I started one ----do a Search.
Scripture and teachings I thought was a good combo.
Notice each Chapter of the Gita has a theme!!! It can often be broken into 3 groups of 6 chapters...
This way you could pick a chapter theme of your choice and it might not seem so overwhelming.
A real book is so nice...rather than reading online, imo.
Btw, ever heard of the Ashtavakra Gita? You'll love it. I'll place some quotes later.
Sometimes people will have an issue with Hinduism and other religions calling God - ''He''.
It is common for authors to state: 'For the sake of simplicity throughout my book I will use
the pronoun He for God, tho, God has no gender."
I answered a friend that got angry that I would say He, I said,'' Ya know what, if it was ok with Jesus to say He and Father...it's good enough for me."
Another friend got upset I would say 'Lord' sometimes.
You just can't please everyone! I say, substitute in your head 'She' or Goddess or Creator...
rather then throw out the baby with the bath water.
Once you have experienced the Majesty, Magnificence and Power that this Spirit, this Being is -
you may understand why a 'He' is used. It just feels masculine! And not a 'man', either.
A quote from a Hindu Teacher (whether yogi, swami, guru, rishi ...who knows - so I say simply 'teacher'.)
“Mankind is engaged in an eternal quest for that “something else” he hopes will bring him happiness, complete and unending. For those individual souls who have sought and found God, the search is over: He is that Something Else.”
Paramahansa Yogananda
There is also this. Sanskrit, like other languages such as French, has only two gender for nouns, F and M. No neutral gender. Bhaghavan is masculine noun so the verb and adverbs and adjectives will all follow the masculine noun formation. Brahman, Divinity, is neutral gender therefore all modifications are neutral. So when you see the mahavakya Tat Tvam Asi - That You Are - That is a neutral pronoun. If it was masculine it would have be Sah or Sa for F.
Besides all that Deities are worshiped both as female and male. Maya is female. They have dominant qualities which again are masculine or feminine, not because of what they mean, but because that is what grammar dictates. Lalita, fpr instance, is a female deity but she is worshiped as the slayer of the demon of ignorance, riding a lion and equipped with frightening weapons, and with an army of women warriors equally equipped, for 10 days! Pretty magnificent, no?
It is unfortunate Americans don't study languages other than English, which limits their appreciation for the differences.
“Thoughts come and go. Feelings come and go. Find out what it is that remains.”
''You are already that which you seek" .........
Now Vivekananda, d.1902: We are what our thoughts have made us; so take care about what you think.
"Truth can be stated in a thousand different ways, yet each one can be true."
''You have to grow from the inside out. None can teach you, none can make you spiritual.
There is no other teacher but your own soul.”
Ramana is all about Self Inquiry. He retired to a cave in the mountain of Tiruvanna in his teens and came out only after he found the answer to his quest. People came to see him but he never lectured. The mountain itself is considered holy.
What he taught is the same as what is found in the Upanishads. He spoke is simple terms, in languages the people in the area spoke in. He also composed songs in praise of Lord Shiva, his deity.
''He who values freedom, will indeed become free. He who values bondage will remain bound only.
In this world this saying is true, "As one thinks so is one's fate."
Ch 1 v11
Ashtavakra Gita
I can already hear the comments - So a poor, hungry child's thoughts of this is why they're poor?
Confusing, right?
Unless, you realize we have had many lives before this one.
You can think this is a theory, think it is nonsense, just as people believe God is, also...
until you have a vision of a past life or of God ...then you get it.
From the Introduction:
This is the realisation which makes Vivekananda the great preacher of Karma, not as divorced from, but as expressing Jnâna and Bhakti. To him, the workshop, the study, the farmyard, and the field are as true and fit scenes for the meeting of God with man as the cell of the monk or the door of the temple. To him, there is no difference between service of man and worship of God, between manliness and faith, between true righteousness and spirituality. All his words, from one point of view, read as a commentary upon this central conviction. "Art, science, and religion", he said once, "are but three different ways of expressing a single truth. But in order to understand this we must have the theory of Advaita."
Being more aligned temperamentally with Jnana my practice of Karma Yoga - when I remember! - is Work as Witness. It's kinda like a combination of Jnana & Raja only done informally throughout the day, not unlike informal mindfulness practiced throughout the day. Basically approach everything in a spiritual light.
Last edited by JustASimpleGuy; 05-13-2023 at 02:04 PM..
Wait that link is the Complete Works? Gulp.
Just opened it...Bye, won't be seein' me for awhile !! lol
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I say, substitute in your head 'She' or Goddess or Creator...
2 Hindu teachers
