The White Hindu
We are doing a scripture study together: reading along through some scriptures and discussing the passages.
From the Winthrop Sargeant translation of The Gita…
15.
Indeed, the man whom these (i.e. the sensations) do not afflict, O Arjuna,
The wise one, to whom happiness and unhappiness are the same,
Is ready for immortality.
16.
It is found that the unreal has no being;
It is found that there is no non-being of the real.
The certainty of both these propositions is indeed surely seen
by the perceivers of truth.
17.
Know that that by which all this universe
is pervaded is indeed indestructible;
No one is able to accomplish
the destruction of the imperishable.
18.
These bodies inhabited by the eternal,
the indestructible, the immeasurable embodied Self,
are said to come to an end.
Therefore fight, Arjuna!
These are some spectacularly beautiful verses. The translation is a little clunky here, erring on the side of getting the exact words across and sacrificing a little of the poetry of the original Sanskrit.
This is what it means to be in the world but not of the world. One can act in the play, but the wise remember that nothing is created or destroyed. The Self does not come to an end when a body dies and is processed back into the earth.
I know I am certainly not at a point of being unaffected by heat and cold, by different sensory experiences, and I ride that wave of excitement and despair as desires come and go. Taking that step back to see it all in the perspective of eternity is, of course, very difficult to do. It can take many lifetimes to develop that ability.
They say that God just is. He is ultimate being-ness. And I think that is what is meant here by he who finds happiness and unhappiness the same. As Hamlet said, there is nothing good nor bad but thinking makes it so. We process what we experience in the world through the narrow filter of our ego and our attachments. It looks very different to someone with a wider view-point.
So in truth, no one dies and no one kills. Does that make killing okay?
I still say no in the vast majority of cases. Every action we perform comes with its consequences, which attach to us and effect what challenges we will be faced with later in life or the next life. The emotions and desires, the pull of sensory want, are what motivate people to want to kill. Those will have serious karmic consequences.
Sometimes killing is necessary. As in the case of horrifying evil such as Hitler. At that time it would be a righteous act and must be carried out for love and for duty without hatred, contempt, anger, or personal gain. If we are honest with ourselves, I think we will realize that none of us is perfected to that point as of yet!
We must never want to kill. Like Arjuna, it is right that we do not go out seeking and desiring to kill another being. His hesitation is necessary.
God will continue to show Arjuna the path and we have the privilege of listening in on that divine advice!
Here are some commentaries that have been made on Chapter Two of the Bhagavad Gita:
http://www.gita4free.com/english_commentarygita2.html
http://www.gradesaver.com/bhagavad-gita/study-guide/section1/
http://bhagwanshradha.wordpress.com/bhagavad-gita/the-gita-chapter-2/
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