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A review by sbright421
The Bhagavad Gita: A Verse Translation by
5.0
This is an 800 verse section of the larger 200,000 verse epic poem of the Mahabharata, one of the two traditionally written down texts of Hinduism (I read the other one in full, the Ramayana, in an English class in high school). It is written as a conversation between the warrior Arjuna and the god of all gods, Krishna. Arjuna is stressed out about fighting in a war against distant family members, but Krishna throughout the whole book encourages him to fight for a variety of religious reasons.
This was part of my exploration of the connection between the ideas that quantum physicists have discussed in the books I've read about that topic and Eastern religious philosophy. Because this was the actual religious text itself, with very little commentary in the form of short sentences off to the side, it was up to me to make the connections between the quantum physics and the Hindu religious theory.
I enjoyed reading this for a few reasons, the first being that it actually is written as a poem. It even rhymes, so as you're reading you're able to establish almost a rhythm to read it in in your head. According to the very short appendix in the back, this is to help the reader memorize the verses. I wasn't reading this as a devout practitioner, but I can see how that would be helpful for those that were and it made it a breeze to get through (it was short enough as it is).
Secondly, there actually were a lot of connections between this, the Buddhist commentary of the heart sutra that I read last week, and the philosophical side of quantum physics. I think the one I found most striking is this idea of perspective and right-sizing our actions. In quantum physics, or at least in The Dancing Wu Li Masters (which I read earlier this month), there's an implication that our perspective dictates our understanding of the way that the world works and that that is not always helpful when attempting to grasp the awesome nature of the universe. I might be sitting still to someone that is also on Earth, but if someone in the ISS were to look down at me, I would be moving at the speed of Earth's rotation. This alone can take the observer down a massive rabbit hole, especially when we zoom in to the sub-atomic level. The computer I'm writing this on might be made of plastics and metals when I look at it, but what are those metals made of? What is the fundamental particle that creates anything? We simply don't know the answer to that question, and if we keep zooming in closer and closer is it even possible to identify what that fundamental particle is? Is it nothing? This, to me, makes the question of the existence of a higher power or God incredibly interesting and something that the Gita and the heart sutra both discuss. If there is this existence of a higher power, these texts (the Gita and the heart sutra) that have been around for thousands of years give an instruction manual for life *if* that's the case, and there are a lot of similarities between the two texts themselves.
The Gita makes it clear that Krishna exists in all beings on Earth, and their natures, actions, "agent", mind, constancy/firmness and happiness are either good, passion, or dark. The common denominator of goodness in all of these categories seems to be right-sizing yourself and doing the right thing without expecting a reward for it. The reward that one gets from goodness is being closer to realizing Krishna's existence in all beings, and that realization comes with the ultimate reward of being freed from the cycle of rebirth. The theme of being freed from rebirth is obviously a Buddhist principle as well, but freedom from that cycle is achieved in a slightly different way. In Hinduism, or at least in the Bhagavad Gita, that freedom is the direct result of taking right action. There isn't the principle of nothingness or emptiness in the Gita, even if meditation has seemingly an equally important part to play in achieving that freedom from rebirth in Hinduism. In the Gita, meditation is meant to connect oneself to Krishna to receive guidance on right action (again it seems this way, I am no expert) while in Buddhism the emptiness and nothingness of meditation almost serves as an analogy of the world as a whole. The realization that Krishna is in everybody is achieving nirvana in Hinduism. The realization that everything is impermanent, and that impermanence means that the universe is empty is achieving nirvana in Buddhism.
I'm really enjoying this philosophical rabbit hole I've fallen down the past few weeks! Because of these books, I've even started getting on myself about meditation more and it's been a really fun experience.
This was part of my exploration of the connection between the ideas that quantum physicists have discussed in the books I've read about that topic and Eastern religious philosophy. Because this was the actual religious text itself, with very little commentary in the form of short sentences off to the side, it was up to me to make the connections between the quantum physics and the Hindu religious theory.
I enjoyed reading this for a few reasons, the first being that it actually is written as a poem. It even rhymes, so as you're reading you're able to establish almost a rhythm to read it in in your head. According to the very short appendix in the back, this is to help the reader memorize the verses. I wasn't reading this as a devout practitioner, but I can see how that would be helpful for those that were and it made it a breeze to get through (it was short enough as it is).
Secondly, there actually were a lot of connections between this, the Buddhist commentary of the heart sutra that I read last week, and the philosophical side of quantum physics. I think the one I found most striking is this idea of perspective and right-sizing our actions. In quantum physics, or at least in The Dancing Wu Li Masters (which I read earlier this month), there's an implication that our perspective dictates our understanding of the way that the world works and that that is not always helpful when attempting to grasp the awesome nature of the universe. I might be sitting still to someone that is also on Earth, but if someone in the ISS were to look down at me, I would be moving at the speed of Earth's rotation. This alone can take the observer down a massive rabbit hole, especially when we zoom in to the sub-atomic level. The computer I'm writing this on might be made of plastics and metals when I look at it, but what are those metals made of? What is the fundamental particle that creates anything? We simply don't know the answer to that question, and if we keep zooming in closer and closer is it even possible to identify what that fundamental particle is? Is it nothing? This, to me, makes the question of the existence of a higher power or God incredibly interesting and something that the Gita and the heart sutra both discuss. If there is this existence of a higher power, these texts (the Gita and the heart sutra) that have been around for thousands of years give an instruction manual for life *if* that's the case, and there are a lot of similarities between the two texts themselves.
The Gita makes it clear that Krishna exists in all beings on Earth, and their natures, actions, "agent", mind, constancy/firmness and happiness are either good, passion, or dark. The common denominator of goodness in all of these categories seems to be right-sizing yourself and doing the right thing without expecting a reward for it. The reward that one gets from goodness is being closer to realizing Krishna's existence in all beings, and that realization comes with the ultimate reward of being freed from the cycle of rebirth. The theme of being freed from rebirth is obviously a Buddhist principle as well, but freedom from that cycle is achieved in a slightly different way. In Hinduism, or at least in the Bhagavad Gita, that freedom is the direct result of taking right action. There isn't the principle of nothingness or emptiness in the Gita, even if meditation has seemingly an equally important part to play in achieving that freedom from rebirth in Hinduism. In the Gita, meditation is meant to connect oneself to Krishna to receive guidance on right action (again it seems this way, I am no expert) while in Buddhism the emptiness and nothingness of meditation almost serves as an analogy of the world as a whole. The realization that Krishna is in everybody is achieving nirvana in Hinduism. The realization that everything is impermanent, and that impermanence means that the universe is empty is achieving nirvana in Buddhism.
I'm really enjoying this philosophical rabbit hole I've fallen down the past few weeks! Because of these books, I've even started getting on myself about meditation more and it's been a really fun experience.