The Bhagavad Gita (Penguin Classics) by Anonymous
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Book Reviews of The Bhagavad Gita (Penguin Classics)
Book Review: I didn't read this translation...
Summary: 4 Stars
...but I feel compelled to comment on the book itself, especially in comparison to the myths of judeo-christian society. The stories, conflicts, and personalities involved are so incredibly strong, colorful, and heart-wrenching when compared to the old and new testaments that I wonder what's wrong with our societies when we have to choose the most lifeless creator myths around to build our superstitions around. They're all superstitions, make no mistake, but at least in the Bhagavad-gita you can imagine people acting the way they do, and feel that the characters are majestic, and possibly worth inspiring superstitions. I in no way advocate building your life around these stories (I would hardly tell you to do so with the bible or the koran) but in any case you can see the richness of imagination present in the ancient societies of the Indian subcontinent. And in comparison, the creation myths of the middle east are sorely lacking.Book Review: Another Pointer Towards Ultmate Reality
Summary: 3 Stars
in writing this review, i realise that the Ghita is from the Mahabarata and is seen as a great classic of hinduism. however it does not have detailed advice on how to practice the life transforming yoga of hinduism. you would learn far more from a guru than from reading this. though i am sure there is much merit in reading the Ghita, which no doubt transcends concept and logic.
i have not read this book for about six months and so am going from memory. it is a jewel in the sense that it points towards mystical experience... the primary experience aimed for in hinduism would seem to be blissful union.
each element has corresponding experiences. bliss is beautiful and highly stable, as is gold. however at heart bliss is cold, or numb. it has its role, it plays its function.
water is matched with balance and peace... the water of life, the cleansing water of truth. water soothes and levels, like air it is empty. empty of taste, flavour or colour, it is clear, but has a zing to it.
air is matched with freedom and as is water is a state of clarity and empty. mental freedom, awareness and perception.
water is penetrated by gold, air is penetrated by fire. fire is the highest of the immanent spiritual elements representing the emotion of love... warmth and burning.
one should not focus too much on the emptiness of air and water to the exclusion of the passions of love and beauty of gold.
each of the elements has a gender... the penetrated and the penetrators, and yet each element depends on the others for its presence. the obviously penetrating sometimes penetrated by that which is penetrated.
though the receivers are penetrated on an obvious level, on a subtle level the receivers penetrate the penetrators.
every element is interconnected and interdependent and yet discrete, unique in its own way. in some states an obviously male element may become
or be female. take earth for example. earth is penetrated... a womb for the seed, though plain and 'common', earth is most important and the female side of the gold/earth element. fire produces light, which penetrates darkness. the seed again into the womb. darkness is humble and receding. light penetrating and joyful.
it is not certain what the fith element is... some say it is the common 'i', others that it is pure awareness, but i tend to see air as being awareness, clear like the sky... the i however is an elusive subject.
in a sense the i, is like a cloud that penetrates the clarity of skys awareness. it can come and go, can be created and destroyed. though i have heard it said that the 'i' is indestructible, i know this not to be true.
anyway, enough musing... bliss is not everything.
as an aside, i think that 'consciousness' is a big word in hinduism, and so it should be. i have been looking at consicousness today, it should not be confused with perception, which requires judgement and thought. so consciousness...
in simplest terms is understood as 'this', i present here four formulations for the reader to consider, formulations of consciousness:
1. time + function + being.
2. life + truth + goodness.
3. truth + speed + understanding. (understanding/perception).
my favourite and simplest expression of consciousness is found in 4.
4. this + truth + life.
the only item that is not totally necessary for consciousness is time, but in temporal reality time is an important factor. we as humans however will one day go beyond the time dimension as it is. i think it is clear that unlike perception, consciousness is wholly a good thing, pure; whilst perception may be tainted by unhealthy judgement or emotion. pure perception however represents 'truth'. consciousness is at the very root of our life/being. consciousness is in part direct truth and cannot exist without life/being. (my favourite definition of truth is 'this + that + love', my favourite definition of life is 'movement + function + attraction'). though i say that life is 'movement + function + attraction' this is on an obvious level, infact everything even the letters on this page are alive, even death is a form of life. you will notice however that the letters on this page are attracted towards each other, serve a function and encourage movement of the mind. therefore the letters are in symbiotic relationship with the mind of the reader!
i was just talking about consciousness (being) with a doctor last week and we both felt that is is amazingly mundane, taken for granted. the plainest thing and yet most remarkable. yet without truth perception we cannot say "'this' is it" (the life changing medium).
in retrospect, the one element that is totally transcendent and beyond the mundane is the fith element 'void', this is dark and though fundamentally empty contains all other elements. the void is the womb from which all things emerge and is impregnated by the fire of love.
anyway, have a nice day.
love, snow-flake. xxx
Book Review: biblical gita
Summary: 2 Stars
full of mistranslations of key concepts..
there is just so much of this that it forms an underlying structural
orientation of the translation, starting with the [long] introduction
with bible quotes to justify translation choices..
the last words of krishna are changed to "thy will be done"
lifted straight from mathew, luke and the lords prayer..
a translation by an academic bible scholar, shows its origins..
and ruins the subtleties of this timeless discourse..
carl
namaste
Book Review: gita
Summary: 1 Stars
all i want to say is that if you want to interprete gita in its fullest then don't go for any translations.first study sanskrit and then read gita in its original form.that would be the right path for knowing the truth.
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