For Eternal Beginners
Many words in Sanskrit and English have multiple meanings. Let’s fix an interpretation of frequently encountered words. This interpretation may be different from what we’re accustomed to. If you don’t understand even after reading this, don’t worry. Stay in the journey of inquiry and don’t get anxious about answers.
Who am I?
As the Lord Himself states, it isn’t possible to describe the
आत्म [Atma]
in speech, nor is it possible to understand it using the intellect. Needless to say, the word
आत्म [Atma]
is difficult to translate. Here, the word ‘Self’ with an uppercase ‘S’ is the translation of the word
आत्म [Atma].
Rather than thinking about the
आत्म [Atma]
as a ghostly soul, consider it as being ‘me’. The Self is ‘me’. That brings us to the question ‘What am I?’ Let’s start by seeing what the Self isn’t.
I am not my body, am I?
Am I a body, a walking bundle of cells and chemicals, a machine that keeps responding to stimuli? If that’s the case, I would be a different ‘me’ through my life - the molecules in our body, our shape, size, even our knowledge and memory - none of them are constant through the life of the body. However, I remain ‘me’ throughout my life even if every aspect of my body gets replaced along the way.
I am not just a thought, am I?
Let’ go a little deeper. Am I my brain? The brain is part of the nervous system, which routes all stimuli through its circuits. Those circuits are nerve cells insulated from each other by fatty tissue, connected through gaps in the insulation. This is known to be the way memory is built and information is processed.
There are thoughts in the brain that seem to run on their own. They seem to have an existence independent of external stimuli - something that I hear in my head when I just sit around doing nothing. It’s the ‘chatterbox center’. Somewhere in the brain, my ‘identity’ is located, which could be a ‘memory of me’. It says things like ‘I am short, arrogant, intelligent but lazy’ and so on. Do these centers constitute ‘me’? Does it cause the experience of ‘I exist’?
No, these thoughts can change over time while I remain ‘me’. If I change my identity, maybe become an active person from a lazy one, do I become a different ‘me’? No. When I grow old and lose some memory and other mental faculties, ‘I’ still exist. The experience of ‘I exist’ is perhaps part of what’s called ‘consciousness’.
What am I? Let’s begin the discovery of the Self and its relation with the Lord.
The current state of the art has not revealed the true nature of our consciousness. What is consciousness made of? Does it follow any laws of conservation? Did it exist when the universe was created? Is it responsible for the awareness and experience of the universe? Are there different types of consciousness?
Let’s use the term ‘Self’ to refer to that which gives rise to ‘consciousness’. The Lord begins his conversation with Arjuna by describing the nature of the Self in the second chapter. He then explains the method of realizing it.
Yoga is about realization - a journey to get real. To associate facts and observations, gain knowledge and materials required to realize our objective. We commonly use the word ‘yoga’ to mean the postures and activities that go into realizing the capabilities of our body and mind. This word has a deeper meaning.
Yoga is a journey to discover reality. Every form of yoga leads to the same discovery.
Three forms of yoga are seen in the conversation of the Gita.
First, the Lord reveals the art of practicing yoga in all our activities. It’s about realizing that we aren’t entitled to any outcomes, that the Lord is the enjoyer and the purpose of our actions. This is reality. Practicing this reality is called
कर्मयोग [karmayoga].
Second, He describes yoga in our thoughts. This is the realization that we are not our body; that the Self exists for the Lord; that The Lord is all-powerful and acts according to His principles. This is real knowledge and its practice is called
ज्ञानयोग [jJAnayoga].
Third, He talks about practicing yoga in devotion. It is to adore the Lord and have Him in our thoughts always. This is our state of being and our relationship with the Lord. Such practice is called
भक्तियोग [bhaktiyoga].
Yoga – be it postures, the forms described above, a study of a science or contemplation - each of them is a journey in our understanding of the material universe, our body as a part of the universe, us and our relationship with the Lord. Such understanding comes with equanimity.
What am I doing?
Our journey in life is a series of activities. Is it about ‘doing’ or ‘making it happen’?
The word
कर्म [karma]
is used in many contexts, so let’s pick the basic meaning - any activity and any action we initiate is called
कर्म [karma]
. An ‘action’ is something we do with an intention. Activity happens in the material universe. We experience outcomes.
The distinction between actions, activities, happenings, goals and outcomes can be hazy, so let’s clarify with an example - Let’s say I intend to call my friend. I initiate the action by picking up the phone and dialing. The action itself is accomplished by the activities of my body. The call is transmitted by electromagnetic waves. My friend needs to receive the call. That’s when the call happens. In this manner, I intend to do something and initiate an action.
Many things need to come together to make the activity ‘happen’. Only one of them is ‘me’. The belief that I make things happen is not reality. You may remark that none of it would happen unless I initiated the action. That would be right – I am entitled only to an independent intention and an initiation of the action. I don’t make the rest of the story happen, though I can predict what happens in material terms. What I cannot predict is the outcome.
An activity has an outcome that we experience. Let’s take the example ahead- suppose my friend responds cheerfully to my call. Normally I would experience joy. However, if I were under a lot of stress, I may feel envy. Suppose my friend didn’t answer my call. I could get frustrated. Or I could simply call later.
In this way, we initiate an action with some intention. After that, things happen, followed by an outcome in the form of an experience.
कर्म [karma]
is the initiation of the activity. It’s not to be mixed up with what actually happens, or with any outcomes encountered along the way.
These outcomes and experiences form the ‘fruit’ of the action, called
कर्मफल [karmaphala]
. The results that follow my actions can give me joy or sorrow, depending on my attachment towards the action and its result. An outcome doesn’t belong to the action – by doing something, I am not entitled to a particular experience. If I don’t recognize this, I tie my activity to my experience and will be bound by it. Such activity wouldn’t be liberating anymore, it would be pretty depressing.
Why am I doing it?
If the action doesn’t guarantee an outcome, why should I work, or give my 100% to achieve a goal?
The ‘reason for’ something can be a cause that triggers it. The motivation for desired outcomes can also be the ‘reason’ for doing something.
An action relates to you in both ways. However, the outcome of an action doesn’t happen for your purpose. You aren’t the only cause behind an outcome either. Krishna says this in His famous shloka, 2-47
It is the first word in the Gita and appears many times in the epic. Often, it’s translated to mean ‘righteousness’, which gives the impression that there is always ‘one right thing’.
That’s not always the case. For instance, is it right to tolerate the mistakes of our dear ones? Or confront them even at the cost of friendship? Righteousness is indeed confusing, so Yudhishtira asks Bhishma at the end of the war- ‘Which
धर्म [dharma]
do you consider superior?’ - implying many righteous behaviors.
Consider
धर्म [dharma]
as a purpose that uplifts you. Usually, such an ‘uplifting’ would liberate you to see an even higher purpose. For instance, let’s say you set out to earn money and achieve your goal legally. This may liberate you to pursue your interests, or it may open opportunities to make even more money. Which
धर्म [dharma]
you pick is your choice.
This brings us to the distinction between goals, means, purpose, expectation and outcomes.
Let’s take an example - the activity of cooking. The ‘goal’ is ‘what’ you’re making - a meal, in this case. The ‘means’ is ‘how’ you’re making it, including the utensils, recipe, and items that go into making the meal. The ‘purpose’ says ‘why’ you’re doing it.
The purpose of cooking could be to eat, to feed your family, to feed guests, to earn money, as a duty or just for the love of cooking.
The ‘expectation’ is linked to desire - it’s what we want for ourselves from the activity. In this example, while cooking for the family, we could expect appreciation; we could also expect them to simply finish the food. Something happens as an outcome of the activity. Our experience of the outcome depends on how we relate it to our expectations.
In all of this,
धर्म [dharma]
relates to the purpose. Your purpose ‘uplifts’ you in varying degrees- cooking for the love of cooking may be more uplifting than just doing it for someone else. On the other hand, if you’re doing it for someone whom you adore, that may be more uplifting than doing it for yourself.
Look beyond desire. Focus on the purpose even when you don’t reach the goal you expect.
With this example, I know the meaning of
धर्म [dharma]
but its application remains shady. Do I consider my duty and profession to be above personal relationships? Or cater to the needs of my dear ones, disregarding rights and opportunity when they come in the way? What is the purpose of my activities?
The problem of purpose appears again and again in the Mahabharata. The resolution is also consistently stated each time: Look beyond desires. Focus on purpose and don’t go behind outcomes. Have the Lord as your purpose and worship Him. At this point, there doesn’t seem to be a logical link from the ‘problem of purpose’ to the ‘resolution by worship’. That’s the journey of the Gita.
To ‘worship’ is to ‘honor and adore’. Doing this consciously means doing it according to a procedure. Though the word
यज्ञ [yajJa]
is often used to mean ‘sacrifice’, here we consider the more general meaning of ‘worship’.
Is there a different way?
Moksha is to be free of all limitations.
What’s it like to be really free?
We cannot imagine this state of being, since we’ve never been free of all limitations. To start with, we need to live with the limitations of our body. Then there is the limitation that comes from our desires and attachments - which may come from things we own, the society, family or friends.
All of them are undoubtedly valuable - be it the body, the society, family or friends. We cannot accomplish much without them. The question is: How many activities do we initiate, expecting to gain or maintain them? How many activities do we initiate independently, after which the rest of the story comes together to make it happen?
It isn’t necessary to have expectations whenever we initiate something. In fact, expectations are limiting in nature. Take the activity of singing, for instance. When I expect appreciation and sing, I do not feel much liberty in the initiative, being constrained by my impression of the audience. Even when I’m appreciated, it’s temporary and I need more appreciation the next time. It doesn’t liberate me in any way. On the other hand, if I sing for the joy of singing, it feels more liberating. There is no question of failure while I’m enjoying my singing. Though I may delight in an activity in this way, repeating the same thing feels boring and my initiative reduces. Then, such an initiative is not totally liberating either.
What if there is a purpose that we’re always meant to achieve? What if any initiative towards that purpose was never to fail? What if that purpose is easy and always delightful, no matter how many times it’s repeated, no matter how much criticism happens? Being in such a purpose is the ultimate liberty. That purpose is the Lord. Achievement of that purpose is Moksha.
Those who are in this purpose are not driven by the world.
Let’s examine a few more words before we get started with the Bhagavad-Gita.
It’s the time that spans across cycles of creation and destruction. It has no beginning. As opposed to this, the ‘normal’ time is the one we experience, which starts with the creation of this universe
An attribute is a property that cannot exist on its own. For example, ‘red color’ is an attribute of blood: the attribute of ‘redness’ cannot exist on its own: there has to be an object that shows up as red, for the attribute to exist. Likewise, we and our universe are attributes of the Lord.
The mind is an instrument for the Self to experience this universe. Understanding, perception, intelligence and cognition come from the mind. Imagination is its function - it’s about making an image from all our perceptions.
The intellect gives the ability to reason and distinguish.
All references to the Lord, including pronouns, start with an uppercase letter. For example: The Lord said ‘I make Myself come into being by My own will’.