Social Awareness in Modern-Day Corporations

Several dot.com companies are donating money to help improve science education. These people hope to see the next generation of children become educationally prepared to take technology to the next level.

Some companies are retooling so their factories not only decrease the amount of pollution they emit but to send out cleaner air and water than they took in for manufacturing. Their products are vegetable-based, so they are not only biodegradable, but they also nourish the soil when they decompose.

Although some corporations are acting responsibly ― as the Bhagavad Gita admonishes them to do ― they are also finding themselves reaping many unforeseen benefits such as increased peace owing to better working relations and realizing higher profits.

Other corporations form social entrepreneurships whose sole mission is to help the impoverished help themselves to a better life and work themselves out of poverty and abuse. Through small, low-interest loans (micro-credit or micro-lending), the poor have the opportunity to work their way out of poverty.

In the process many myths are being shattered. They are finding that the poor are smart enough and have ample will and integrity to run businesses on their own. They are also repaying their loans more quickly than the national average. Such simple aims have resulted in more than 300, 000 people coming out of poverty as of 2007, and the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the developer of microcredit, Muhammad Yunnus. We see how helping people rise out of poverty has wide-reaching effects — improving the prospects for world peace. So we never know how our good actions will influence others, but clearly, from the above example, its effect will be positive.

Companies are doing good for its own reward and are finding immense satisfaction seeing that many people are no longer poverty stricken.

Exercises:

1. Review your life, examining how your basic needs (food, clothing, and shelter) are met. Have you found that somehow the money appears when you really need it? Do you find you do not need to struggle unduly to get yours or your family’s basic needs met?

Now look to the non-essential things you strive for; maybe a few fancier options on your car, a more expensive clothing brand, or going to some trendy vacation spot? Do you find you have to struggle much harder to earn for these items? Do you find these struggles to be a source of stress, anger, alienation, or impatience?

If so, you have isolated the cause of many of your undue stresses.

How the term ‘basic needs’ is defined will differ slightly from family to family, so there is no judgment intended in the above example. A couple saving to pay for their child’s college education has more basic needs than a couple whose children have graduated college. It is not the intention here to offer one definition of basic needs for all people. Once you define your family’s own basic needs you will find it useful to review the exercise from your personal standpoint.

2. If you have found that your basic needs are met without undue struggle, now look to the next step. Review the times that you have helped others in need without asking for anything in re turn. Did you receive some special inner feeling? Did you find that while helping your own needs were met with even less focus or effort?

3. Think of times when your actions were dictated by your con science and not fear of financial or social retribution. Did things ultimately work out for you better than imagined?

Our basic needs are met by God, so we can serve others.

Chapter 7

How to Know God

Lord Krishna begins by telling Arjuna how to know the eternal God through the fixed mind and faithful persistence, noting how rare it is to find a person able to achieve God-Realization. God’s lower nature (prakriti) includes the 5 elements (ether, air, fire, water, and earth), and the mind, intellect, and ego, whereas God’s higher nature is eternal Soul (atma).

God is the origin of creation and also the one who causes its dissolution. There is nothing and no one higher than God.

Krishna says that like a strand of pearls on a thread, everything and everyone in this creation is as a bead strung on God’s necklace. God is in everything and everyone. Moreover, God is the best aspect of each thing: the intellect of the intelligent, the radiance in the moon and sun, and the prowess in the powerful. God is strength devoid of desire and attachment, and also the desire that is not against righteous living (dharma).

Because people only see the material world, they are misled by its true essence (God), and thus do not see or know God. The gunas create a mysterious veil (maya) that prevents people from seeing beyond the mundane and into the eternal nature of God.

Those whose actions are more harmful, wicked, and corrupt do not care to know God, but virtuous-behaving people do. There are four types of virtuous people that worship God:

1. The distressed 2. Seekers of knowledge 3. Seekers of material prosperity 4. Wise servants or worshipers of God shippers, for they have no other desire but God. It is rare to find such a noble Soul. God is dearest to them and they are dearest to God.

People whose focus is distracted by various desires worship lesser gods through prayers, rites, and rituals in the hope of gaining pleasure, power, fame, fortune, and so on. [Verse 1–20]

O Arjuna, hear how practicing yoga with your mind absorbed in Me, taking complete sanctuary in Me, you will be able to know Me completely, without doubt. [1]

Now I shall fully explain to you intellectual and experiential knowledge; upon knowing this, nothing further in the world remains to be known. [2]

Among thousands of humans, hardly one strives for Self-Realization. Of those who do endeavor, scarcely one has realized this Soul-Enlightenment. From these, barely any know Me in truth. [3]

Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intellect, egotism; these are the 8-fold divisions of my nature (prakriti). [4]

Know this O mighty-armed, prakriti (nature) is inferior to my higher prakriti — eternal consciousness — by which this creation is supported. [5]

Know that all beings are generated from these two energies. I am the origin, sustainer, and dissolution of creation. [6]

O Arjuna, there is nothing superior to me; everything that exists is attached to Me like pearls on a thread. [7]

O Arjuna, I am the essential sweet taste in water, the radiance in the Sun and Moon. I am Aum in all the Vedas, the subconscious sound in ether (akasha) and ability in humans. [8]

I am the original fragrance in the earth, the heat in fire, and the vitality in all beings; I am also penance in those performing austerities. [9]

O Arjuna, know Me as the eternal seed of all beings. I am the spiritual intellect of the wise and the prowess of the powerful. [10]

O Arjuna, I am the strength of the strong, without desire or passion, and the energy of procreation that is not contrary to righteousness. [11]

Know that all conditions of nature, goodness (sattwa), passion (rajas), and ignorance (tamas) are created by Me alone; but I am not with them, they are within Me. [12]

The 3 gunas completely delude this universe. This world does not know Me, who is beyond the gunas, eternal. [13]

This divine illusion (maya) of Mine, created by the gunas, is difficult to transcend. Only those who take refuge in Me cross over the maya. [14]

Miscreants, foolish, lowest of humans, their discrimination hoodwinked by maya, following demonic tendencies, do not surrender to Me. [15]

O Arjuna, four kinds of virtuous people offer devotional service to Me; the distressed, the seeker of knowledge, the seeker of material prosperity, and the wise. [16]

Among them, the wise who are always in devotional service to Me, are superior. For I am supremely dear to them and they are dear to Me. [17]

All these people are noble, but I look upon the wise as my very Self. Intent on Self-Realization only, they become one with Me. [18]

After innumerable births, the wise person, seeing all pervaded by Me, realizes Me. Such a great-Soul is very rare. [19]

Those whose minds are distorted by material desires surrender to demigods (devas), following rituals and rites according to their own nature. [20]

Krishna then says something else very interesting:

Whatever form a person chooses to worship Me, I make their faith unwavering.

This has many ramifications.

Whatever demigod (deva) a devotee faithfully desires, I make his faith unwavering. [21]

Endowed with that faith, they worship the demigod (devas) and obtain their desires.

But it is Me who sanctions the gifts. [22]

Those who worship gods go to the gods. Those who worship God go to God. It might also be interpreted that whatever form of God you worship, God will come to you in that form. [Verse 21–23]

For these people of small understanding, the rewards of their desires is temporary.

Worshippers of the demigods (devas) obtain the demigods. But my devotees come to Me. [23]

When a person is born, the three gunas create, maintain, and dissolve this relative world that Krishna calls maya (illusion), because it is not permanent. It is the gunas that cause the mind to become deluded into forgetting the eternal God.

When a person begins to desire something that they already are, pairs of opposites are then born. For example, you see a car and are happy. If you want that car — and cannot get it — you become sad.

If you think that obtaining the car will bring lasting happiness, you then try to obtain the car.

But people of virtuous deeds, who take refuge in God, only aim for freedom from all relative bonds caused by the gunas. They strive instead for God-Realization or Brahman. When a person realizes that all is One, they can then know anything about the relative creation, For the person who knows God in the physical, spiritual, and sacri and know God even at the time of physical death. They know themselves (the Soul) to be eternal. So for them, there is no death; they become imperishable. [Verse 24–30]

These spiritually ignorant people consider me as unmanifest coming into existence. They are unable to understand My imperishable, exalted state. [24]

I am not manifest to all, being veiled by maya. The deluded in this world can not comprehend Me, the unborn and imperishable. [25]

O Arjuna, I know the past, present, and future of all beings, but no one knows Me. [26]

O Arjuna, conqueror of foes, all beings are born in delusion of duality caused by desire and hatred. [27]

But those people performing virtuous acts, whose sins have been completely eradicated, free from delusion of duality, steadfastly engage in devotional service to Me. [28]

Those who strive for liberation from old age and death take refuge in Me; such a person learns about the eternal Soul, the individual Soul, and the entire realm of action and reaction (karma). [29]

Those who realize Me in the physical realm, the divine realm, and as the sacrificial realm, their minds are absorbed in Me, and know Me even at the time of death. [30]

Summary:

• God is the creator of the relative world (through the function of the three gunas). And God as Soul is in all things. So it is advised for a person to see beyond the impermanence of all things under the influence of the gunas to directly experience God.

Exercises

1. How would you best describe your life?:

a) distressed

b) seeking knowledge

c) seeking materialism

d) serving/worshiping spirit/God

Are you happy with your life focus or would you like to change the focus?

2. Reflect on any times in the past that you had a strong desire for something or someone and you could not get what you wanted.

How did you feel? Did you become impatient, angry, depressed, worried? Did those reactions cause a stressful time in your life?

Can you see how by not ‘demanding’ an outcome, feeling more at one with yourself can prevent extremely stressful situations from arising?

Chapter 8

How to Attain Salvation

 

Arjuna asks Krishna to explain in detail some of the concepts Krishna has been speaking about in the past chapters:

What is Brahman?

What is adhyatma?

What is karma?

What is adhibuta?

What is adhidaiva?

How is God known at the time of death by the wise with steadfast faith on God?

Krishna explains:

1. Brahman is the eternal, unbounded, imperishable Supreme ― the goal of life ― the state of realizing that everything is the same Eternal Soul (God).

1.2. Adhyatma is the embodied soul or the physical manifestation of the Supreme Brahman.

2.3. Karma is the process of creation in action.

3.4. Adhibuta is the perishable physical existence.

4.5. Adhidaiva is the Supreme Self or Universal Spirit.

5.6. Krishna is the Adhiyajna (deity of the sacrifice) in the human body.

Those who, at the time of death, remember God, directly merge with God the Eternal. They skip heaven, which is a temporary existence.

From heaven, one must again return to earth to continue to achieve Self-Realization. Moreover, the person’s last thought just before dying will be attained, because it is the focus of their desire. It has been said that the last wish a person has before dying, will be obtained in their next birth. If a person’s last thought is, ‘I love that deer, ’ they will return in their next life as a deer. If their last thought is, ‘I wish I was a famous actor, ’ they will become a famous actor in their next life. This is the theory behind reincarnation and desire.

So powerful is the last thought, that Krishna admonishes all to develop steadfast faith on God so that one’s last thought is God.

Now some may say, ‘life isn’t so bad, I don’t mind returning’; however, this is usually said during a positive time and not during some is unable to feel the suffering of humanity may say that they do not to always feel truly happy as long as there are cries for help somewhere on the earth.

Still, this admonition does not mean that living life for God and focusing on God makes this appear to be a cold and dismal place; quite the opposite. One can indeed enjoy life in moderation and see God’s hand in all things. It is only when enjoyment becomes so great that a person forgets the author of the creation and the giver of the joy. It is this what Krishna warns about.

So Krishna repeats, from various angles, the same message. Those who meditate on God, who see God as beyond the smallest, beyond the darkness, with unflinching mind and possessed of devotion, fixing the prana (life-breath) between the brows through yogic practice, will attain the Supreme Divine Being.

In layman’s terms, Krishna is saying that any doubt, fear, anxiety, anger or other unwarranted emotion is an impurity, an aberration of a peaceful mind at one with God. Some may use the term ‘evil’ to describe any thought or feeling other than a godly one, because it causes upset in mind and body in the form of stress and disease.

This microscopic insight into human nature reveals the need to be toward a purer and more peaceful state of being. The implications of this idea are astounding. Imagine that every time you want to blame another person for something, instead you look inside to see if you have removed all impurities or faults. An applicable expression is that ‘People who live in glass houses should not throw stones’ or ‘every time you point a finger in blame, three fingers point back at you.’

If everything in creation is a part of the eternal Self, then any imperfection or fault that is seen exists in the person who sees the fault in another. The only way to purify or rectify that fault is to look within and purify oneself. [Verse 1–11]

O Krishna, what is Brahman (cosmic Soul)? What is individual Soul? What is karma (action/reaction)? What is the physical realm, and what is the divine realm?

O Krishna, who is the Lord of sacrifice within the body? How does it dwell there and how can this be known at the time of death by the self-controlled? [2]

Lord Krishna said:

The supreme, imperishable reality is Brahman. Its embodied nature is the self (adhyatman). Action that causes the development of material bodies is called karma (fruitive actions). [3]

O Arjuna, the perishable world is called the physical realm (adhibhuta), the eternal Unmanifest is the underlying foundation of all the demigods (adhidaivata), and in the body, I am the Lord of all sacrifices (Adhiyajna). [4]

The person who remembers Me at the time of their death, rises and becomes one with Me. There is no doubt about this. [5]

O Arjuna, the last thing a person thinks about in their final moment, they become [in their next life], due to their absorption in that thought. [6]

Therefore, think of Me constantly and fight, offering your mind and intellect to Me, and definitely you shall attain Me without doubt. [7]

O Arjuna, by continually remembering the resplendent Supreme Being, with individual and universal Soul united, a person realizes (God). [8]

The person who thinks upon the omniscient, ancient ruler, smaller than an atom yet sustainer of all; of unimaginable form, radiant like the Sun, and beyond ignorance. [9]

At the time of death, one who meditates on Him with concentrated mind, full devotion, and fixes their life breath (prana) between the eyebrows, will realize that eternal God. [10]

That path which the realizers of Veda speak of as imperishable, that which the great renunciants (sanyasins) merge by practicing Brahmacharya, I shall summarize for you. [11]

Krishna then shares the secret of how to become awake to one’s Soul. He says a person can develop yogic concentration by:

• Closing all the gates to their senses

• Confining the mind in the heart

• Fixing prana at ajna chakra (ie, focusing the eyes upward between the brows)

• Uttering the sound Aum (the first word of the universe) and meditating on God. (This can also be interpreted as saying any name of God.)

Krishna says that those who remember God daily, constantly at each and every moment of life will easily attain God as their supreme goal. And having attained God and realizing the eternal kingdom, there is no rebirth, because there is no desire to experience anything worldly.

Krishna next gives some perspective on creation and time. A day for Brahma, the creator of the universe, lasts for 1, 000 yugas (cycles or ages); his night lasts for another 1, 000 yugas. Those who have experienced this knowledge are the true knowers of day and night.

(1, 000 yugas is called a kalpa, and lasts for 4, 320, 000, 000 earthly years)

There are a few points of discussion regarding these statements by Krishna. First, human life is but a drop in the ocean of time. Our day of Brahma is so vast by our standards of time and our lifetime passes in a wink of an eye, through steadfast devotion, we can still come to know God during that short time. From this viewpoint, life becomes more precious.

When Brahma’s night begins, he goes to sleep and the creation ends for another kalpa. It is withdrawn back into Brahma. When it is Brahma’s day, he awakes again to create creation.

According to Vedic texts, when God wanted to create the universe, He created Brahma and instructed him to do the job for Him. Brahma felt the need to go into deep meditation to understand his source (God) and his mission (to create the universe). When Brahma achieved realization, seeing that everything comes from God, he was then able to create the universe. He created it from his thoughts.

[Verse 12–19]

Withdrawing the senses from sense objects and steadying the mind within the heart, fixed in Self-Realization with the life breath (prana) in the head, engaged in the practice of union of individual and universal Soul (yoga). [12]

Uttering the eternal monosyllable, Aum, and continuously remembering Me, thus they relinquish their body and achieve the supreme goal. [13]

O Arjuna, whosoever remembers Me constantly without interruption, I am easy to attain because of their constant devotion. [14]

The great souls who have reached Me do not undergo transitory rebirth of misery. [15]

O Arjuna, the inhabitants of the world, from the most evolved, Brahma’s sphere downwards, are subject to the cycle of birth and death. By taking refuge in Me, O Arjuna, there is no rebirth. [16]

Those who know that a day for Brahma consists of 4, 320, 000, 000 years, as does the duration of one of his nights, are knowers of day and night. [17]

At the onset of Brahma’s day, all creatures are created from the unmanifest, and at the arrival of night, they merge into that which is called unmanifest. [18]

O Arjuna, these innumerable beings continually take birth at the beginning of his day, and disappear at the advent of his night, and again manifesting automatically upon the start of the next day. [19]

Now, yet another fascinating point is made. When creation is destroyed during Brahma’s sleep, there is a form of creation that is unmanifest: every creature and deva are manifest anew, again and again, in each creation.

But higher than this is the ultimate unmanifest ― that which has no form and is unbounded. This is what has been described earlier as the Supreme Imperishable. Attaining this state, there is no rebirth even when the next new creation is begun. Thus, we are given an awe-inspiring view of the Vedic notion of time, creation, birth, death, and reincarnation, of the temporal nature of heaven, and what eternal salvation truly means.

Seeing our place in such a vast and incomprehensible play and among a cast of great characters can help us feel humble. We can see how little understanding and power we have over things in life beyond doing our best to use our God-given gifts to help others.

This view also offers solace and inspiration rather than despair, because we know that if we follow the secret teachings of Krishna, we will improve our lives. We can develop a life of devotion to God and help God’s children and the earth to the best of our ability.

Finally, Krishna shares the secrets about when we will depart from the earth (leave our bodies) for God, and when we return again for rebirth. We learn that Eternal Salvation is attained when leaving moon cycle (bright fortnight or shukla) in the six months of the sun’s northern course. Rebirth occurs upon leaving the body during smoke and at night during the waning moon cycle (dark fortnight or Krishna [meaning dark in this context]) in the six months of the sun’s southern course.

With all these secrets about how to attain unshakable devoted faith in God, Krishna admonishes Arjuna to aim for this highest goal of life ― Brahman or Self-Realization so that he can live in that imperishable state. [Verse 20–28]

But there is another unmanifest that is eternal and superior to this relative unmanifest (of Brahma), that is never destroyed even when all beings perish. [20]

That unmanifest that is described as imperishable is called the supreme goal; having realized, one never is reborn. That is my supreme abode. [21]

O Arjuna, that supreme Self, in whom all beings live and by whom all things are pervaded, can be achieved only by whole-hearted devotion. [22]

O Arjuna, now I’ll explain about the time for passing from this world [i.e. death of the body] when the yogis realize liberation and the time of death when they will have rebirth. [23]

Yogis attain liberation when they leave through Fire (agni), light (Jyoti), daytime (Aha), during the waxing Moon (Shukla), the 6-month northern course of the sun (between winter and summer solstices) (Uttataryanam) [24]

When Yogis pass from this world through smoke (Dhuma), night (Ratri), during the waning Moon (Krishna), the 6-month course of the Sun (between summer and winter solstice), after remaining in heaven for some time, undergo rebirth. [25]

These are eternal light and dark paths of the universe. Through one a yogi realizes liberation, and through the other they repeatedly return. [26]

O Arjuna, by knowing these paths, yogis are never deluded. Therefore, O Arjuna, always be engaged in Self-Realization. [27]

Whatever meritorious rewards are promised in the Vedas, in ritual sacrifices, in practicing austerities, or in charitable giving, the yogi, transcends them all to realize the supreme primeval abode. [28]

Exercises

1. Krishna said doubt, fear, anxiety, anger, or other unwarranted emotions prevent a mind in peace, at one with God. For the next few days, scan your brain whenever you remember to see what you are thinking about. While getting ready for school or work, in the shower, brushing your teeth, preparing or eating a meal, walking or driving, waiting for someone; browse your thoughts like channel surfing — what thoughts do you see? What conversations are being presented — angry, worried, joyful, sacred?

The thought stories are like air — negative thoughts pollute your awareness and harmonious thoughts create fresh air. If you are seeing negative thoughts, try instantly changing to something harmonious; a happy or spiritual song, a mantra or prayer, a pleasant event, a loving person, think of your life purpose, or how you can best help others. By continually scanning your thoughts in daily life and consciously switching to harmonious thoughts, you will gradually exercise your mind to think more constructive thoughts and thereby feel more peace in life.

2. Review your emotions; is there anyone you blame for something that happened to you? Do you label that person phony, uncaring, egotistic; maybe something they did or did not do or say prevented you from experiencing an outcome you wished for?

Now look within to see where you might be blocking others or yourself with your thoughts and actions — but do not judge yourself. It is not an easy exercise to see and admit one’s own short comings. If you can admit it, it makes you humble; try to forgive yourself and the other person too. Instead of dwelling on the issue, switch your focus to your God-gifts and how you can better share your gifts with others. Do you feel lighter, more harmonious from the shift to positive emotions and action?

3. This is the second chapter that discusses reincarnation. For those new to the idea, it is a good time to review your initial thoughts and journaling to see if you have gained any new insights.

Chapter 9

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