Evolve and Elevate: When you don’t like a thing, kill your Attachments, how to not take life too seriously?

Idea of the Week

When you don’t like a thing.

“Sister, there are people who went to sleep all over the world last night, poor and rich and white and black, but they will never wake again. Sister, those who expected to rise did not, their beds became their cooling boards, and their blankets became their winding sheets. And those dead folks would give anything, anything at all for just five minutes of this… So you watch yourself about complaining, Sister. What you’re supposed to do when you don’t like a thing is change it. If you can’t change it, change the way you think about it. Don’t complain.”

Maya Angelou, Wouldn’t take nothing for my journey now.

Lesson of the Week

Kill the attachments.

Bhagavad Gita says:

In the previous Newsletter I discussed about who a Kripan is.

Someone who cannot find solution for life’s problems and without becoming aware of atma-sakshatkar, leaves this world is called as Kripan.

A brahmin is opposite to a Kripan. He uses his body to solve all the problems of Life.

Because of Dehatmabuddhi (illusory attachment for personal bodily coverings), people who are Kripan waste their entire time on excessive love of family, society and country etc.

A human being specifically on the basis of Charam rog (body ailments) suffers the most because of his/her attachment and love for family, wife and children.

A Kripan thinks that he/she can save his/her family from death. This type of suffering is also found in animals as they also look after and care for their Children.

The Wise Arjuna had understood that his love and attachment for his family members and the desire to save them from death was only the reason for all his worries.

Hence, he was understanding that his responsibility of going for the battle was waiting for him but Kripan -Durbalta (weakness) was not letting him take the responsibility. He then receives Shishyatav (lecture) from Lord Krishna.

He is requesting his Guru Bhgawan Krishna to give him some permanent solution.

He wants to stop all the brotherly conversations with Lord Krishna but get into a serios conversation like that between a Guru and his student.

Hence, Lord Krishna is the Guru of Bhagavad Gita knowledge and Arjuna is the first student to understand the knowledge of Bhagavad Gita.

Arjuna says, “I fail to find such knowledge or wisdom which can help me remove this sadness that is miserably affecting my senses.

Even after winning luxurious kingdom on this entire Earth like all the deities in the heaven have, I will not be able to set myself free from this sadness and remorse for killing so many people in the battlefield.

The truth is that without a Guru, you cannot resolve your problems. High education, intelligence and high position-They all are useless in solving in life’s problems. If someone can help you in these problems is only a Guru.

The conclusion is this that a person who is 100 percent of Krishna’s Bhavna Bhavit (One who is fully dedicated to Krishna), only that person is an authentic Guru and only he/she can solve problems of life.

NOTE:

Reading Bhagavad Gita and understand Bhagavad Gita are two different things.

There are so many things written which can be misinterpreted. There are chances of absorbing the teachings in an incorrect manner.

When you read something, the interpretation is always in the hands of reader no matter what the writer actually meant.

But the idea is to get close to what it really means and not generalize it for every situation.

Bhagavad Gita says that Arjuna should not be very emotional, and Lord Krishna is trying to convince him for the Battle.

He is guiding him by telling, that his attachment for his cousins is a waste. He should not be so much attached to worldly things. But there are certain important things you need to understand before you conclude things:

• • Not being attached to worldly things does not mean to abandon them but to not let them control you.
  • The extent of wrong that Arjuna’s cousins did with him, and his brothers was inhumane and extremely vindictive. Do not generalize battle like ideology for every situation that you feel was unjust. You need to have a Guru to assess your stance and situation before you take an action like Arjuna.
  • Violence is not the core of the Bhagavad Gita. Understand that to reach self-actualization, you must kill what is most dear to you including your personal attachments. And you can accomplish it by killing your own ego.
  • Dharma is the core of the Bhagavad Gita.

Let me tell you a short story.

This is an answer I read on Quora, written by Dr. Balaji Viswanathan.

This would make you understand the essence of Bhagavad Gita quite clearly.

Story: Ram had a nice family – two little kids and a doting wife. He was doing well at work, was paying his taxes and life was going well until that day. On a gloomy afternoon, terrorists entered his home and took his wife and kids as hostages.

The terrorists put a ransom demand for releasing a bunch of hardcore criminals from the jail, who had killed a lot of people. The government tried negotiating, but nothing was working. The special forces were brought in. The head of special forces, Ashok, arrived at the scene and explored every way to rescue the hostages without any casualties. After a few hours, he concluded that there was no way.

Ashok then discovered an unguarded window through which he had a good shot at the head of the terrorists. His mind was all set now. He had to put a single bullet in the head of that terrorist and get Ram’s family out. Seemed quite straightforward.

But, as he got and picked up his gun, something was turning up in his stomach. He had to kill a few people and he has never killed a human before. He was brought up in a way to respect life and now he has to forgo all those teachings as he would kill not one, but many men. He might also lose a few of his own men. As he started focusing on his target, he found something startling. The terror man turned out to be his own brother.

Ashok dropped the gun as his emotions were taking over him. He could not shoot his own brother. He could not kill another man. However, the clock was ticking and the terrorists could discover his plan and close the window of opportunity any minute.

Should he pick up the gun to get Ram’s family out or should he escape from his duty? Should he put the life of his brother over Ram’s wife & kids?

That’s the essence of Bhagvad Gita. Like Ashok here, the hero of Mahabharata is in a dilemma. Arjuna and his side were wronged. They tried all the peaceful negotiation methods and none of them worked. Meanwhile, things were getting worse in their kingdom. Faced with no other choice, they have all entered the battlefield.

Arjuna now has a duty to perform. But, to fulfill that duty he has to kill the people dear to him. Is it right for him to quit his duty after he signed up for the assignment and got so close to his goal? Should he give into his emotions and forget what is right?

Most rational people would say Ashok should shoot the terrorist and get Ram’s family out. I made a fairly strawman villain and hero. I didn’t even give the villain a name. Vyasa, however, is infinitely smarter than me. His epic of Mahabharata has a much complex hero and a much complex villain. The villains had their virtues and the heroes their vices. Just like in the real world, neither were black/white – but in shades of gray. That means, it is not as easy to say what Ashok should do. The dilemma is much greater.

That said, one side was a darker shade of gray than the other and had more vices.

That was the side that had to be defeated to establish the pillars of justice. Bhagavad Gita brilliantly talks about the ways to manage emotions and make decisions in such a scenario. Arjuna finds his mentor at the right time who helped him clarify his doubts.

Is killing justified in the Bhagwad Gita?How, according to Krishna’s teaching to Arjuna, was the war between the two sides justified? What about Karma? – Quora

The winner is not perfect, but he/she is better – and that keeps the world going.

Inspiration of the Week: 

How to not take life too seriously?