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East Meets West – A
Gautami Tripathy Column
This column previously ran
by Deepak Morris is now taken over by Gautami Tripathy.
The purpose of the column
is to bring the culture and joy of mysterious and beautiful India
to the world.
November 26, 2006
I am From
I am from the land of saints,
where spirituality abounds.
Gita is the way of life
love for others is the norm.
all religions are embraced,
absorbed and esteemed.
Ganges washes our sins
giving us new lease of life.
diverse cultures converge
at a single point but still
hold on to their own.
©gautami.tripathy
~Nov 23, 2006
Bhagawad Gita....the way I perceive it....(I)
Introduction
The intrinsic relation of sciences to humanities is
one of the means to ends. The concept of right and
wrong ,the study of the ideas centering round these
concepts...on these the action and happiness of
humanity depends. A balanced culture should bring
about the sciences and humanities into harmony.
For this purpose, Gita is a valuable aid for
understanding of the supreme ends of life. It teaches
us the permanent truths, gives us intellectual vision,
tells us about the ancient wisdom of the scripture.
Eternal and Imperishable
Gita has something eternal and imperishable,
applicable to all ages and all countries. The
intellectual expressions and psychological idiom are
the products of time while the permanent truths are
capable of being lived and seen by a higher than
intellectual vision at all times. Gita contains
ancient wisdom which is as relevant today as it was
then. It will be just relevant as to the end of time
if there is any.
This great scripture has living value as it is a
restatement of the truths of the eternity in the
accents of our present times.
Gita is the journey within us seeking the way to be
one with GOD. It provides light with its wisdom and
reinforces renewal of spiritual life. It shows us the
meaning and value of existence, the essence of eternal
values and the path in which the ultimate mysteries
are illuminated by the light of the reason and moral
intuition.
There has to be balance between mind and the spirit so
as to keep the material world one. Gita is ethics and
metaphysics, science of reality and art of union with
that very reality. Rigorous discipline is necessary to
comprehend fully the truths of the spirit. In order to
acquire spiritual wisdom, we need to cleanse our mind
of all distraction and purge the heart from all
corruption.
Renewal of life is can only happen with knowledge of
truth. Outer desire and inner quality can never be
divided because by doing so we violate the integrity
of human life. These two orders of reality, empirical
and transcendent are closely interwoven.
The biggest question is how can we live in the highest
self and yet continue to work in this world? We find
answers in Gita with new emphasis. It gives us vision
of truth, impressive and profound, opens up new
avenues for the mind of man, it accepts assumptions
which are part of tradition of the past generations
and embedded in the language it employs. The different
elements which had been competing within Hindu system
have been brought together and integrated into a
comprehensive synthesis, free and large, subtle and
profound.
Krishna, as the teacher, amalgates the different
currents of thoughts, the Vedic cult of sacrifice, the
Upanishads, the Bhagavad theism and tender piety, the
Sankhya dualism and the Yoga meditation. He brings all
these elements into organic unity, shows us how
different lines of thought converge towards the same
end.
(to be contd)
s_gautami@yahoo.com
http://soulfullymindless.blogspot.com
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