Thank you for the recommendation, wgm. I'd enjoy Yogananda's simply because I know who he is and I've read Autobiography of a Yogi. Here's how that happened: in Dec 1974 I was in Yes health food restaurant in DC one evening shortly after I separated from my husband and before I began TM. There was a gorgeous young man was staring at me! He got up from his table and walked towards me and put a copy of Autobiography on my table. Then he walked away! I read it,. Three months later I began TM.
I also have a Gita translated by Swami Swarupananda. On Monday, December 30, 2013 10:05 AM, wgm4u <[email protected]> wrote: Oh yes Share, there is no doubt about that. I'll tell you a story, when I at first saw Yogananda's Gita translation on the book shelf at Border's I thought I didn't need to read another translation of the Gita, after all, I got it...from MMY. Then I looked a little further and decided I'd wade through the two volume set and just see for myself if I was missing anything. I was blown away by how much I WAS missing and the beauty and the justice Yogananda does to Vyasa's *masterpiece*. In short, don't sell yourself short by stopping at reading only MMY's translation, though a good beginning translation (though incomplete) it barely scratches the surface of this great allegory and WHY it was considered great, remember Yogananda's translation came out well AFTER MMY's in spite of Yogananda being long gone. MMY just used the Gita for his own purposes and not to do justice to what Vyasa actually said. If you read only MMY's version you won't understand why it is considered to be a MasterPiece, what you get with MMY is a lot of Indian Philosophy in general, and MMY's interpretation of that, specifically, which is a good start but not a very good reading of the Gita, iMHO. ---In FairfieldLife@{{emailDomain}}, <sharelong60@...> wrote: wgm, what I shared from the Gita about gunas can have practical value, I think, whether one grants the Gita concrete or allegorical reality. On Monday, December 30, 2013 8:09 AM, wgm4u <[email protected]> wrote: With all due respect Share, I don’t think Arjuna was a real character that reached enlightenment on some battlefield (Kurukshetra) in ancient India . Though there may indeed have been a mythical battle, and a character called Arjuna and Krishna , they were only used loosely by Vyasa to convey an *allegory* representing the struggle between good and evil we all must wage (an inner Armageddon). MMY in his translation seems to suggest Arjuna was an actual character that actually gained enlightenment from Krishna in the middle of an actual war, this is silly to say the least, and is only an ‘eXoteric’ explanation (much like taking the Bible literally). The Bhagavad Gita is just an allegory!! Arjuna merely represents me or you and Krishna the Soul or pure consciousness. Kuruk shetra is a Sanskrit word meaning the *field of the body* upon which this battle is waged by every individual (Arjuna) that comes to earth to learn the lessons of life. MMY *hints* at this in his translation but never really unfolds the true beauty of Vyasa’s story which requires understanding Sanskrit and context to discern the true meaning of the words. (See Swami Yogananda’s Gita for a complete unfoldment of the ‘eSoteric’ meaning). A mere conversation between Krishna and Arjuna leading to Arjuna's enlightenment in the middle of a real war?...sorry, it never happened!! ---In FairfieldLife@{{emailDomain}}, <sharelong60@...> wrote: Richard, my favorite teaching about the gunas is in Ch 4, vs 35 of Maharishi's commentary on the Gita. He explains that delusion in the state of tamas guna can be overcome by an increase in rajas; delusion in rajo guna can be overcome by an increase in sat guna; but delusion in the state of sattva, which is Arjuna's situation, can only be overcome by transcending. For me this teaching goes well with Maharishi's idea that the mind can't have a mood on an abstract basis. What this means to me is that our moods are already present in our physiology, and then the moods get expressed in behavior. In this sense we have a good amount of control over our moods just by taking good care of our body: staying rested, eating healthy foods, getting adequate exercise. I find that when my body is cruising along in a settled state, then my moods are pretty even also. On Monday, December 30, 2013 12:00 AM, Richard Williams <punditster@...> wrote: The Bhagavad Gita is concerned with three constituents: sattva, rajas and tamas. The idea is to transcend these three qualities. According to MMY: "The authorship of action does not in reality belong to the "I". It is a mistake to understand that "I" do this, "I" experience this and "I" know this. All action is performed by the three gunas born of Nature." The implications of these passages indicate that the nature of the mind is appreciated as it is, separate from activity. The "goal" of TM does not consist in acieving anything or reaching anything, but simply in recognizing what already is the case, that the "I" is essentially uninvolved with activity. Here, the ONLY criterion is internal: is the self cognized as independent of action - the causal nexus. "The Vedas concern is with the three gunas. Be without the three gunas O Arjuna, freed from duality, ever possesses of Self." According to Anthony Campbell, free will is "A choice, either determined or not. If it is determined, it is not free. But if it is determined, to what are we to ascribe it? Would a freedom based on mere chance be an alternative to causal determinism? The solution to this question is simple: incorporate into your model of free will, the mechanics of causal contact itself, contact all related forms of information in proper proportion, past, present, and future, i.e. universal causal contact based on contact with Being vis-a-vis TM." That is to say, Campbell quoting Schrodinger: "Every conscious mind that has ever said or felt "I" IS the person who controls the motions of the atoms according to the laws of nature." So, there is authorship of action; causal contact; and free will. "But he who knows the truth about the divisions of the gunas and their actions, O mighty armed, knowing that it is the gunas which act upon the gunas, remains unattached." Works cited: 'Seven States of Consciousness' by Anthony Campbell, M.D. Harper & Row, 1974 p. 181 "On the Bhagavad Gita" by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi International SRM Publications, 1965 Verse: 27; p. 220; Verse 45: p. 90: Verse 14; p. 259.
