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A class on Chapter 11, The Cosmic Vision, of the Bhagavad Gita, as translated by Stephen Mitchell, Three Rivers Press, New York, 2000. The class spent time on the passages: I am death, shatterer of worlds, annihilating all things. With or without you, these warriors in their facing armies will die. Therefore, stand up, win glory; conquer the enemy; rule. Already I have struck them down; ou are just my instrument, Arjuna.
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A class on Chapter 11, The Cosmic Vision, of the Bhagavad Gita, as translated by Stephen Mitchell, Three Rivers Press, New York, 2000. The class spent time on the passages: I am death, shatterer of worlds, annihilating all things. With or without you, these warriors in their facing armies will die. Therefore, stand up, win glory; conquer the enemy; rule. Already I have struck them down; ou are just my instrument, Arjuna.
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The speaker welcomes everyone and leads them in a breathing exercise. They discuss various spiritual practices such as chanting mantras and singing holy words. They play different chants and songs to evoke different feelings and reactions. They mention the importance of experiencing something rather than just hearing about it. They mention a verse from the Tao Te Ching and discuss the concept of time and eternity. They then introduce the next lesson about seeing the splendor of the divine form. Welcome everybody. Welcome back. Commence by making our sound of Aum together three times. Getting our feet on the floor. Wiggle those toes. Get in contact. Tailbone solid. Straighten your back. And with a deep in-breath. Aum. Aum. Aum. Shanti. Shanti. Shanti. One of the things we do here in our class is to expose ourselves to different spiritual practices so that we can ascend on our path to union with the divine. We've learned several things. We learned a breathing practice, which you can use. We learned how you can use a hand gesture, a mudra. We have talked about using a mantra, finding a mantra that works for you. So before we begin today's class, I thought it might be fun to hear a mantra sung. In the tradition from India, there is a practice called a kirtan, where everyone gets together and chants some holy words. We have that same practice in Christianity. Especially in monasteries, we hear the monks chanting. We have our own chants here at Unity. So I'm going to spend the first five minutes letting us listen to some kirtan, which is the chanting of holy words. And the holy words are the following. OM NAMA NAH MAH OM NAMA SIVA YAH OM NAMA SIVA YAH And you don't need to know what the words mean, because the sound of the words talks to your heart. As a matter of fact, when I first heard that, what I heard was, OM NAMA SIVA YAH It didn't matter. So let's see what we got here. Let's see if I can make it work. Here we go. OK. OM OM NAMA SIVA YAH OM NAMA SIVA YAH OM NAMA SIVA YAH OM NAMA SIVA YAH OM NAMA SIVA YAH OM NAMA SIVA YAH OM NAMA SIVA YAH OM NAMA SIVA YAH SIVAYA NAMAHA SIVAYA NAMAHA SIVAYA NAMAHA SIVAYA NAMAHA OM NAMA SIVA YAH OM NAMA SIVA YAH OM NAMA SIVA YAH OM NAMA SIVA YAH SIVAYA NAMAHA SIVAYA NAMAHA SIVAYA NAMAHA SIVAYA NAMAHA SIVAYA NAMAHA How did that feel? Peaceful. Let's hear the same prayer chanted a little differently. OM NAMA SIVA OM NAMA SIVA SIVA OM NAMA OM NAMA SIVA OM NAMA SIVA OM NAMA SIVA SIVA OM NAMA OM NAMA SIVA OM NAMA SIVA OM NAMA SIVA SIVA OM NAMA OM NAMA SIVA OM NAMA SIVA OM NAMA SIVA SIVA OM NAMA OM NAMA SIVA OM NAMA SIVA OM NAMA SIVA SIVA OM NAMA OM NAMA SIVA OM NAMA SIVA And how did that make you feel? Warm inside. Very relaxing, but it doesn't have the same effect as the other one. You know, I had the same experience. Yeah, the other one raises your, it definitely hits your vibration. I had chakra vibes. Yes, that was Krishna Das. He's the famous chanter. He has many beautiful, beautiful songs. It's more of a Christian. That's why the church requires him. So we have different reactions to the same thing. My wife, Janice, was the spiritual one in our family. And she's the one who encouraged me to practice yoga and go down to Yungaville, which is south of Charlottesville. The ashram down there. And here sat Chidananda, the well-known man of peace and guru. And one of the things that we did there, and I just like to do things, so Janice said, do it, I would do it. One of the activities is called a kirtan, where we would all get together and sing this particular chant. And it was yet different. It's a little different. Om Namah Shivaya, Om Namah Shivaya, Om Namah Shivaya, Om Namah Shivaya, Shiva, Shiva, Shiva, Shiva, Om Namah Shivaya, Ram, Ram, Ram, Ram, Om Namah Shivaya, Om Namah Shivaya, Om Namah Shivaya, Om Namah Shivaya, Om Namah Shivaya. It's still in my head. Steve? Yes. This is Gail. Both to the one just before what you sang and this one. I think they introduce or they call us into community differently from the first one. The fact that we're dancing together through song and creating an aligned sound, I just really noticed a change from me being by myself trying to own with the sound to feeling part of a coherent group. Thank you, Gail. So isn't that interesting how the same chant can speak to different parts of us. Our deepest inner part yearning for union and our communal part yearning to be one with everyone in our group. I'll play one more little song which is going to be quite familiar and that will lead us into our class for the day. Just play a couple minutes of it. When I was a boy each week on Sunday we would go to church pay attention to the priest and he would read the holy word and consecrate the holy bread and everyone would kneel and bow today the only difference is everything is holy now everything, everything, everything is holy now When I was in Sunday school we would learn about the time Moses flipped the sea in two and Jesus made the water wine and I remember feeling sad miracles don't happen still but now I can't keep track cause everything's a miracle everything, everything, everything's a miracle Wine from water is not so small and even better magic trick if anything is here at all So the challenging thing becomes not to look for miracles but finding where there isn't one When holy water was rare at best it everywhere's my fingertips but now I have to hold my breath like I'm swimming in a sea of death There used to be a world out there heaven's second-rate hand-me-downs now I walk it with a crumpled chair cause everything is holy now everything is holy now everything is holy now everything is holy now everything is holy now everything is holy now everything is holy now everything is holy now everything is holy now Read a person in child's name Everything is holy now So how did that feel? Yes Julie? Thank you so much for playing that that was just fabulous Cherry and I got back from our walk and we were just singing and dancing to it and also anyone that doesn't know it's part of New Day and we have CDs of those in the bookstore for sale Thank you Julie So, a kirtan we can sing we can sing in a group and we can use it as a mantra if our inner voice gives it to us Om Namah Shivaya Om Namah Shivaya or it might be called to Everything is holy now Everything is holy now Everything is holy now These are all spiritual practices which we are exposed to and if our inner voice says that's yours why, thank you God Last week we studied the voice of Krishna describing himself saying what he was I am so there's two ways of us experiencing or knowing about something one is to hear a telling of it and the other is to experience a showing of it so we can hear about something or read about something and then we can actually experience the thing last week's chapter was what Krishna told us about himself so here's a couple of verses from chapter 10 where he talked about himself he said of creations I am the beginning and the end and the middle as well, Arjuna I am of knowledge, knowledge of the capitalist self of orators, I am the speech of letters, the first one A I am imperishable time I want to get back to that one the creator whose face is everywhere death that devours all things he said I am imperishable time I am imperishable time what does that mean for us? when I read that verse I am imperishable time it reminded me of a verse from the Tao Te Ching which goes like this since before time and space were the Tao is or Krishna is, the divine is since before time and space were the Tao is it is beyond is and is not how do I know this is true? I look inside myself and see there's a commentary on this verse by an ancient Roman Jewish Roman philosopher named Philo who lived in Alexandria when it was under Roman control about the time of Jesus' birth and here's what Philo had to say today means boundless and inexhaustible eternity today means boundless and inexhaustible eternity months and years and all periods of time are concepts of men who gauge everything by number but the true name of eternity is today with a capital T today means boundless and inexhaustible eternity months and years and all periods of time are concepts in our heads of men who gauge everything by number our bank accounts, our age time of day but the true name of eternity is today and he went on to describe himself as what he was I am imperishable time so that's a little review of last week's lesson any questions before we go on to today's lesson where he is going to illustrate and show us what he is rather than tell us alright this is chapter 11 chapter 11 the cosmic vision Arjuna said graciously lord you have spoken about the ultimate secret revealed when one knows the self and your words have ended my confusion now Arjuna is speaking for us of course did all those words end our confusion oh well we can read chapter 10 again if we are still confused until we get it Arjuna said your words have ended my confusion you have told me in detail the origin and dissolution of all things and have described your own vast imperishable being I do not doubt that you are what you say you are lord hmm we believed everything he heard the lord said he was and yet I want to see for myself the splendor of your ultimate form I don't want to hear about it I want to experience it and that's like us too isn't it sometimes if you've been some place and seen something and later on read an account about it it's not the same is it your experience of it is what's valid and real and what you heard told about it afterwards is not exactly the same so that's where Arjuna is coming from I want to see for myself the splendor of your ultimate form if you think I am strong enough worthy enough to endure it grant me now lord a vision of your vast imperishable self so here we go the blessed lord said look Arjuna thousands, millions of my divine forms beings of all kinds and sizes of every color and shape he says a look and Arjuna isn't seeing it yet the blessed lord continues look the sun gods the gods of fire dawn sky wind, storm wonders that no mortal has ever beheld look, look Arjuna the whole universe all things animate or inanimate are gathered here look enfolded inside my infinite body have a look then lord Krishna goes on but since you are not able to see me with mortal eyes I will grant you divine sight look, look the depth of my power now we have to imagine ourselves also having been given divine sight so we just imagine that we now have divine sight as we hear these words so here is the commentary about what happened so Krishna was there the experienced thing with his divine eyes just as our imaginary divine eyes open and here is the description of what happened after he had spoken these words Krishna, the great lord of yoga revealed to Arjuna his majestic transcendent limitless form now you may find this experience rather not like the divinity that you thought you were in communication with but here is the description of what happened with innumerable mouths and eyes faces too marvelous to stare at dazzling ornaments innumerable weapons uplifted flaming crowned with fire wrapped in pure light with celestial fragrance it smelled good celestial fragrance he stood forth as the infinite god composed of all wonders if a thousand suns were to rise and stand in the noon sky blazing such brilliance would be like the fierce brilliance of that mighty self and your divine eyes in contact with this story Arjuna saw the whole universe enfolded with its countless billions of life forms gathered together in the body of the god of gods so even if we can't see that now we are told that Arjuna saw it and Arjuna trembling with awe his blood chilled the hair standing up on his flesh he bowed and joining his palms spoke these words to the lord Arjuna said I see all gods in your body and multitudes of beings lord and Brahma on his lotus throne and the seers the wise people and the shining angels well their heaven was somewhat like ours had angels had more than one divine being and had the seers or the saints so I see you everywhere with billions of arms eyes bellies faces without end middle or beginning your body the whole universe lord for those of you who are following in your books I'm going to skip to page 136 now read the rest on your own Arjuna goes on as you touch the sky many hewed gape mouths your huge eyes blazing now can anyone admit in their deepest meditation and experience of the lord that the lord had blazing eyes this is a different sort of experience and it's different for Arjuna as he is going to tell us in a few minutes interesting my innards tremble my breath stops my bones turn to jelly seeing your billion fanged mouths bangs blaze like the fires of doomsday I faint I stagger I despair have mercy on me Arjuna goes on to explain what he sees in this vision of divine revelation and it's not all flowers and perfume he says all Dharashitra's men now Dharashitra was the king of the kingdom in which Arjuna lived and all of Dharashitra's men were facing the Pandavas on the other side making a lot of noise they're ready to fight that's where all this takes place just before the fight commences in a moment of time all these men all these multitudes of kings Bhishma, a friend of his Drona, Karna and all our warriors behind them all the soldiers and the officers are rushing headlong into your hideous gaping knife fanged jaws I see them with skulls crushed their raw flesh stuck to your teeth sounds horrible doesn't it? sort of sounds like the monsters we sometimes see in comics as the rivers in many torrents rush towards the ocean all these warriors are pouring down into your blazing mouth Arjuna experience it says as moths rush into a flame and are burned in an instant all beings plunge down your gullet and are instantly consumed doesn't sound like the heaven I heard about you gulp down all worlds everywhere swallowing them in your flames and your rays Lord Vishnu fill all the universe with dreadful brilliance this wasn't the experience of the divine that Arjuna was used to and here in unity it may not be the experience of the divine that we're used to God is good in our experience it was the same with Arjuna who are you in this terrifying form Arjuna says have mercy Lord grant me even the glimmer of understanding to prop up my staggering mind how the blessed Lord speaks and these are the words by the way I had forgotten this that Robert Oppenheimer spoke when he experienced the first explosion of an atomic bomb the blessed Lord said I am death shatterer of worlds annihilating all things I am death shatterer of worlds annihilating all things with or without you these warriors in their facing armies will die he's speaking a truth there and now he teaches Arjuna the fundamental lesson of the Bhagavad Gita which is we need to do what is ours to do at all times and not be swayed by our outer senses or emotions we need to let our spiritual practices be in touch with our inner divinity so that it will be revealed to us what is ours to do at all times and here is what Krishna tells Arjuna it is his to do therefore stand up win glory let the enemy rule already I have struck them down you are just my instrument Arjuna isn't that something like the prayer of St. Francis that we pray to be the instrument of God we had a nice interruption to our spiritual learning so we can lighten up a little bit you know it's just these fang jaws crushing our heads and swallowed down the mouth of our loving God can God still love us even though at some point we get crushed with bloody fangs get swallowed into another way of looking at the passing of the human body it's no longer useful and return to source so Krishna says already I have struck them down this was the illusion or the disillusion of Arjuna when he laid his sword down and said I won't fight he thought it was the I in him that was going to fight I don't want to fight I don't want to kill my brothers and cousins I don't want to do this but it's my duty I don't know what to do and he laid his sword down and wouldn't fight and in that instant which it took a whole book to describe Lord Krishna taught him that what is yours to do is what is yours to do and not to be led by our I me consciousness I am I and there is the other over there but rather to be led by led by God and consider ourselves an instrument of God Arjuna and then Krishna goes on to talk about Arjuna's friends and teachers Drona, Bhishma Jayaparatha, Karna and the other great heroes have already been killed by me so the Lord is in charge not us and then he ends with fight without hesitation kill them now this is pretty strong, strong words but here's how it applies to us we must sometimes fight our inclinations and our senses and do what is odd to do and what is right and sometimes we don't see that right away that's why we learn various spiritual practices to help keep us centered in the inner divine which we are so that we can seek the guidance of our inner light and all that we do fight without hesitation kill them, those are words he speaks to Arjuna's I-consciousness I-consciousness the I you yes, so that part of us has to fight to find the strength to let our inner knowing come forth so that we are led by the divine in us and not our inclinations our desires, our selfish desires questions? having heard our Krishna speech Arjuna, his palms joined, shivering with terror, bowed to the Lord deeply and stammered these words Arjuna said now I know why the universe delights and rejoices in you terrified the demons scatter before you and the sages bow the saints bow why should they not bow eternal creator infinite Lord you are both being and non-being and what is beyond them both so how does Krishna know this is this the experience he had he said you are both being and non-being and what is beyond them both it sort of sounds like he's mouthing the words that Krishna has told him but here it's given to us as Arjuna having experienced that you are both being and non-being we had a a little guided meditation a couple sessions ago where we tried to experience manifestation non-manifestation being, not being just to have a little stab at it to see if we could find what that means for us you are what is beyond them both and if you're reading the text I'm skipping to page 141 now so here goes Arjuna Arjuna has had this terrible experience I can rightfully guess it wasn't what he expected when he asked the Lord to reveal himself all those bloody fangs killing and chewing people up and swallowing them millions of eyes and arms pretty scary having seen what no mortal has seen he goes on I am joyful yet I quiver with dread show me your other form please the one that I know where God is good have mercy let me see you as you were before crowned mace and discus with only four arms O billion-armed Lord of infinite forms the blessed Lord said graciously so now this is done through grace through the grace of God graciously for your sake Arjuna I showed you my highest form dazzling infinite primal which no one has seen but you well we've seen it too haven't we because we just heard about it well we haven't seen it haven't we just heard the story about it we haven't seen it not at least as I'm experiencing you experiencing you today and the Lord says no one has seen it but you so I suppose that's a challenge for us do we truly want to experience divinity in all its aspects not only the good but also what we might call the unfortunate or even the monstrous you may see enough monstrous images on the television you don't want to experience our idea of the divine having any of those characteristics then the blessed Lord goes on he says not by worship or study or alms or ascetic practice or even our spiritual practices he says can I be seen in this form by anyone but you Archana so he's saying what doesn't work if you want to experience the totality of the divine not study and if you're studying here well that's not going to work he says not by worship whatever worship means for you if it means worshiping some inner aspect or outer aspect we had a question I recall about worship being a questionable word or a loaded word does it mean that God is not here and God is not there worshiping some God out there it's not the same as God in me and I saw a little in my reading of Satchitananda here when he was talking about the verse he likes little stories and Satchitananda gave this little story there were two children sitting and talking this was in India so one of the little children said I'll give you a mango if you can show me where God is hmm now we all know where God is for us don't we where is God for me so if you were there you could have answered I'll give you a mango if you show me where God is he was a little boy and the other child was a little girl and the little girl responded I'll give you two mangoes if you can show me where God is not two mangoes worship not by worship or study or giving alms or ascetic practice can I be seen in this form by anyone but you Arjuna do not be frightened or confused at seeing my horrific form that's a big charge not to be frightened at those horrible images and yet this is what the Lord says do not be frightened or confused at seeing my horrific form free of fear light hearted see me as I was before another of our basic teachings in both Christian and in this tradition is how to free ourselves from fear fear, what are we afraid of are we afraid of some outcome after our body dies are we afraid of what's going to happen tomorrow even though tomorrow is just a concept to men today is inexhaustible boundless eternity the true name of eternity is today but if we're attached to fear then we've got this idea of time, you might be afraid of what happens when when at some point in time light hearted see me as I was before and the commentary is having spoken this to Arjuna the Lord stood before him again in the mild and pleasant form of Krishna the kind, the beautiful the good Arjuna said seeing your human form seeing God in his human form Krishna I feel at ease what's more I am myself and my mind has regained its composure so Arjuna might have the same issues or have had that we have Arjuna he likes to see the image of God as mild and pleasant kind, beautiful and good what's more I am myself my mind has regained its composure the blessed Lord says well alright the vision that you have been granted is difficult to attain even the gods are always longing to behold me like this not by study or rites or alms or ascetic practice can I be seen in this cosmic form as you have just seen me what's the answer only by single-minded devotion can I be known as I truly am Arjuna can I be seen and entered so after this mind-boggling story and vision that was given to Arjuna the Lord ends this chapter and gives us some advice for our personal evolution our path to unity with the divine he says he who acts for my sake remember that I deny myself ego that laid down the sword because I didn't want to fight I didn't want to kill my friends and my teachers hmm he she who acts for my sake finding somehow and if you can't find what is in the Lord's sake within you then you need to rely on one of your three treasures patience he who acts for my sake loving me free of attachment what are we attached to being right right smiles of recognition anyone not attached to being right has anyone here not spoken and been right and tried to help others but didn't see it right haven't we been helpful to others of some kind saying oh I'm right and you're wrong let me graciously correct your understanding of things because I'm right I'm attached to being right yes ma'am I've heard in traffic driving circles would you rather be right or dead say for instance at an intersection and someone's barreling through and your right is to go through at a green light but you can see that someone's coming perhaps too fast and you could be right and dead safe is another place to be besides right free of attachment to our selfish desires our appetites our senses I need to be right free of attachment with benevolence toward all beings kindness remember the three gatekeepers the speech is it true is it kind is it necessary with benevolence toward all beings he who acts for my sake in the end when is the end right now this is the end right now today is boundless inexhaustible eternity so those who act for my sake loving me free of attachment with benevolence toward all beings will come to me in the end well if he hasn't helped you at this right now we can be patient there's more nows perhaps to come any comments before we close today's session I could make a lot of them as we were as you were leading us through the discussion I kept finding parallel images in the Judeo-Christian scriptures whether it's Moses in the burning bush whether it's the graphic wars and violence in the Hebrew scriptures that parallel to the graphic imagery of Krishna and in all of these things there is divinity at all points that's never separated or missing and in its fullness and then all the gracious and kind and loving imagery and then out of Revelation where Jesus says I'm the Alpha and the Omega as the author has them to say and then I think about Buddha's awakening experience under the bony tree so there's parallels parallels parallels I just want to thank you Steve for especially at the very beginning having the kirtan and then putting in the song by New Day again parallels truth is all around us and it's really inspiring to me so thank you that's what I really wanted to say thank you thank you isn't it wonderful to hear an old truth from a different perspective so we hear it again and perhaps that allows our prior perspective to support us as well and help us get in deeper touch with old truths thank you Russ any other comments or questions before we close today yes Ellie I think one thing that jumped out at me that I'm going to reflect on is your comment about if you're attached to fear you're attached to time yes the illusion of time I love my fears they're right down here I water them I think about them I love my fears they're mine well I guess we just have to give them to the lord make our fears an offering dear lord thank you for my fears I still got them but I offer them to you as well thank you Ellie shall we close now now with that let us return to our experience of our bodies we all got bodies let's get inside our bodies where are your toes right now are they pressing down on mother earth where is your butt bone pressing down in the chair or somewhere else how about your spine is it all bent over or can you hold your shoulders back just a little bit allow your spine to straighten up and now gazing gazing gently head can you allow your eyelids to gently close can you experience the skin of your body glowing there's a little glow coming from your toes your torso, your legs, your arms a little glow coming from the top of your head as you sit erect and straight experience that glow as we repeat our three Aum with a deep in breath Aum Aum Aum Aum Aum Aum Aum Aum Aum Aum Aum Shanti Shanti Shanti May we go in peace
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