I have been obsessing about the Sthitaprajna verses in the Gita...(Chapter 2/ Verses 55 to 72) . It is so beautiful. At first glance, if you have been following Vedanta, the message is clear, and simple. You know however, that hard to follow that... Just like a fool feels, when he sees E= MC square and thinks he understands all of quantum world because he knows the English alphabet!! Oh, it is just E and M and C and that thing called square... and one feels, that may be all there is to that, is what a fool may feel. So too this casual association with yoga a lot of people claim. You may even learn these verses by heart without feeling their meaning, that would be similar to what Adi Shankaracharya says of the Donkey which carries sandalwood, without appreciating the fragrance (so, too, a learned man who does not live/experience what he/she learns).
So, yes, Jayshriji and I are revisiting the verses again and again, in our course to be both the donkey and the epicure who understands the fragrance of sandalwood while struggling with the load of that understanding:) Today, we restarted on the first ten verses -- and then, those Ah Oh moments...
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That peace is not just peace, and it is so blithely used...
Peace is so many things. The wonder of sanskrit is that it can use one word to convey so much, so even in translation much is lost ... Nevertheless, with Jayshriji's attempt and Swami Sivananda's interpretation of the Gita (published by the Divine Life Society) here is more into the meaning of the peace, which yoga must bring u, as explained by this beautiful definition of one who does real yoga... Stithaprajna
Verse 69 explains how this is the topsy turvy way a yogi has to be:
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That which is night to all beings, in that the self-controlled man is awake; when all beings are awake, that is night for the Muni who sees.
So, yes, Jayshriji and I are revisiting the verses again and again, in our course to be both the donkey and the epicure who understands the fragrance of sandalwood while struggling with the load of that understanding:) Today, we restarted on the first ten verses -- and then, those Ah Oh moments...
Free MySpace Animations!
That peace is not just peace, and it is so blithely used...
Peace is so many things. The wonder of sanskrit is that it can use one word to convey so much, so even in translation much is lost ... Nevertheless, with Jayshriji's attempt and Swami Sivananda's interpretation of the Gita (published by the Divine Life Society) here is more into the meaning of the peace, which yoga must bring u, as explained by this beautiful definition of one who does real yoga... Stithaprajna
- peace born of steady wisdom (not just wisdom, but steady wisdom)
- peace unshaken by desires
- peace free of attachments
- peace free of anger
- peace which is free of fear
- peace where there is no hatred or joy when anything bad or good happens to him/her
- peace of one whose senses are withdrawn like a tortoise
- peace with no trace of pain
- peace that comes from true discrimination
- peace free from delusion
- peace which is joyous (so many who may be peaceful, but joyless)
- peace unshaken by that subtle thing called ego
Verse 69 explains how this is the topsy turvy way a yogi has to be:
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That which is night to all beings, in that the self-controlled man is awake; when all beings are awake, that is night for the Muni who sees.
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