path to freedom

Verse 4.9: One who knows the transcendental nature of My appearance and activities does not, upon leaving the body, take his birth again in this material world, but attains My eternal abode, O Arjuna.

"Stop the world, I want to get off!" It's a thought that crosses my mind often. Normally this occurs when I'm experiencing a sense of frustration and disappointment with living life in this material world. To all those who are trying to practice the path of bhakti yoga, a word to the wise. Don't despair when encountering this since it can actually help you!

Although bhakti is about experiencing the positive, in order to do so, we must leave those things that hinder us behind.

Or in other words, the loss and emptiness that we may experience actually serves to help us if we look deeper than what meets the eye or emotion. It signifies that we deserve more than what this material world promises us and that we are the proverbial fish out of water.

We are eternal beings who are sojourning through this world. The soul is seeking permanency and shelter - a true home. Encased in this material body, we try to do our best to make our bodies our home to no avail. After all, ever body undergoes birth, death, disease and old age. So how does one get out and find their true home?

This verse gives the yoga seeker the "path to freedom". The Gita is teaching that by understanding the world of transcendence and the soul's connection with the Divine, just by remembering that at the time of death, one escapes the cycle of birth and death. It's a simple as that.

Although it sounds simple, it takes practice. After all, thinking of the Divine isn't as easy as turning a light switch off and on. Our minds are constantly filled with numerous thoughts and often they are the same ones running through over and over and over again. That is why the key practice in bhakti yoga is that of mantra meditation.

Sound has such a powerful effect and by repeating the maha mantra daily, it starts to remove the layers of dust off of our soul. That dust which has accumulated from numerous births is what prevents us from realizing that we are the soul and not this body.

In tandem with practicing mantra meditation, hearing and reading about the Divine fills one's thought with remembrance. By nature we are curious about others and so we can engage that natural propensity to learn more about the one who we've forgotten.

That's why the practice of bhakti yoga is so simple and joyful. It's about engaging our normal tendencies of hearing, talking and remembering and centering it around a focus point: the Divine. Just by doing that, we can leave this world of temporality behind and experience true eternality, knowledge and bliss.

the soul

Verse 2.13: As the embodied soul continuously passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. A sober person is not bewildered by such a change.

Arjuna's misconceptions (and our own) are directly addressed in this verse: misidentification with the material body. Krsna clearly outlines here one of the fundamental tenets of the Gita - we have a material body (which is temporary) and a soul (which is eternal). Our true identification should be that "I am a soul" and not be bewildered by the body that is currently on loan to us.

One may question, "So what if I identify myself with the material body? What does it matter?" It matters because the body is temporary, limited and is often a cause of misery. The soul, on the other hand, is characterized by three intrinsic characteristics. It is eternal, full of knowledge and full of bliss.

A beautiful analogy is given with respect to this verse. Just as a person puts on cloths and discards them later, the material body can be viewed in a similar way. The only difference is we wear this body for a longer time than the pants or shirt we might have put on this morning.

The body we receive is a direct result of our karma and consciousness in our previous life. That determines the type of body and facility we receive now. Like this, the cycle continues and so the soul gets trapped in the cycle of repeated birth and death.

With respect to death, this verse can help ease our misconceptions and trepidations regarding death. This verse and those to come propound that the soul never dies. The body, any body will die, but the soul will live eternally. The loss of friends, family and loved ones is certainly painful and never easy. However, one can take comfort that the soul that we were lucky enough to come in contact with will live forever.

supreme comfort

Verse 2.12: Never was there a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor all these kings; nor in the future shall any of us cease to be.

All of us want to be eternal. Some may not wish to actually live forever (often this thinking is associated with the body and relationships we currently have) but all of us crave it in some fashion or another. The concept of legacy is very much related to eternality. Even if this material body ceases to exist, we all want to leave something behind and be remembered. Whether it be children, accomplishing one's goals or somehow affecting other's lives in a meaningful way, this concept of eternality is within us because it is who we are.

The soul is eternal and we are the soul. Due to the fact that the soul is wearing a material body, we easily forget that we are actually eternal and identify ourselves with the body which undergoes birth, disease, old age and death and which grows from boyhood to youth to "distinguished (aka: old)." :D

In this verse, Krsna gives us supreme comfort. He comforts all of us by saying that we have always existed and need not fear death. This is really powerful. Modern society tends to ignore death and hides it behind lots of other things. It is interesting to note though that many religions and spiritual traditions, including that of bhakti, speak of death in a matter of fact way and address it head on. They do not bring in the negative aspects, but instead focus on the positive. Some may question, "Is there anything positive about death?" The bhakti texts loudly answer by saying "YES!"

By being aware of death we can reflect on how we utilize our time. Our time is spent in so many ways whether it be in performing our duty, honouring commitments, having fun or just plain wasting it. For how many is spiritual life an actual priority? Sadly to say, not that many. But this awareness can help shift one's priorities. This doesn't mean one should neglect one's duty, family, job etc.., it just means that spiritual life has it's rightful place in one's schedule.

As well, this verse speaks of how loving and compassionate God actually is. Here Krsna reassures Arjuna by saying there was never a time when both Krsna, Arjuna and everyone else didn't exist. Krsna is saying here that, "My relationship with you is also eternal." It's not that we are eternal and don't have a relationship with God. No! Our relationship is eternal too. This goes to show how much God loves us. He will never give up on us and our relationship with him (whether we acknowledge it's importance or not). How lucky are we to have such a Lord that loves us unconditionally?

Remember that next time you feel unloved and down in the dumps. The Lord loves you more than you can imagine and is just waiting for you to remember him.