The Bhagavad Gita essays

The Bhagavad Gita essays The Bhagavad Gita and Self Realization As a sacred text, The Bhagavd Gita teaches Hindus how to live in the world. The world in which we live is said to be a world of illusion. Out of ignorance and selfishness we bind ourselves to this world through our desires and our actions, not knowing our true nature and true purpose. It says that people remain chained to the cycle of births and deaths and to the forces of nature. The text informs us how a person can perform his duty in this world and still remain free from the consequences of his actions. It deals with such basic concepts as the nature of our existence and the nature of our true self. One main teaching of The Bhagavad Gita is about ones hidden self. In every one there is a real and hidden self which is different from the external self. Every one must realize this difference between the outer self and the inner self. To do this, one must establish a stable mind, dispose of sense organs and truly understand what the soul really is. The first thing necessary to realize this true inner self is by stabilizing ones mind. A man is said to be stable of mind when he renounces all desires and remains satisfied in the self by the self. He remains undisturbed and unmoved by the passions(6.35) of the mind and the outside world. According to The Bhagavad Gita, the mind is unstable because of the activity of the senses, and the unstable mind is an enemy of the self. As Krishna states, when a man is not the lord of his soul then this becomes his enemy (6.6). The mind can be stabilized through self-discipline and self-control, getting rid of desire by getting rid of the sense objects, living in solitude, and by keeping ones mind on God. Moderation in every thing we do is another method prescribed to achieve this state of mind. Krishna says that Yoga is a harmony. Not for him to eats too much, or for him who eats too little; not for him who sl ...