INTRODUCTION
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THESE VERSES
are the ultimate sūtra, the technique to
liberate oneself and realize Brahman,
ultimate Truth. Kṛṣṇa describes how to
reach the ultimate Truth. He tells us to
just follow His instructions.
The beauty of Kṛṣṇa's advice in Bhagavad Gītā is that He makes no assumptions. He goes to the depths of Arjuna's stated and unstated doubts and tells him in such clear words that there can be no ambiguity. Bhagavad Gītā is primarily a śāstra, a scripture that gives knowledge. Even though the author who is the Divine Himself, He must bring Himself down to the level of Arjuna, a mortal. Kṛṣṇa's compassion drives Him to repeat the same words to ensure that Arjuna listens and understands.
As long as we question why, we
never get a clear answer. Especially
with Existence, the question ‘Why?’
has no relevance. As I said earlier,
we operate at a different frequency
from the Divine, so even if it is
explained, we will not understand.
Spirituality is an inner science, not
an outer science, and that is
fortunate! In the outer sciences, we
keep asking ‘Why?’ and when we
cannot get answers, we get stuck.
‘Why?’ is about logic. ‘How?’ is
about realism. Śāstras answer the
‘Why?’ Sūtras answer the ‘How?’
Once in a while, the Master delivers
the Sūtra amidst the śāstra that He
must deliver to keep Arjuna quiet.
He says, 'Settle the mind
and control the senses.'
Can you do that while
sitting in the middle of a
traffic junction? No. That is
why He says go into
solitude and cut yourself off
from disturbances. Go into
meditation and shut your
senses to external objects.
These are the clearest
instructions on how to
meditate. Prepare yourself
to be away from potential
sensory disturbances.
There is no point in
meditating when you are
sure the phone will ring or a
guest will be arriving. Fix a
time and place when you
will be alone, undisturbed.
Closing the eyes is
insufficient. Your eyeballs
will still move and inner
television will still play.
Mentally freeze your
eyeballs, think they are
made of stone and still
them. At the same time
place your tongue on your
upper palate and lock it.
If there is movement of the
tongue, that creates
verbalization, then visualization
is difficult. These two tools of
mentally freezing your eyeball
movement and locking your
tongue, substantially reduce the
wandering of the mind due to
sensory disturbances.
Meditate on an empty stomach or eat little. A full stomach makes us sleepy. Ideally one should meditate in the same location regularly to preserve the energy raised in meditation. These are the physical requirements. Next Kṛṣṇa repeats what He has been emphasizing all along.
Complete and drop your
personality, He says, drop
your ego or root patterns,
your attachments, your
ideas of ‘I’ and ‘mine’ as
well as the emotions that
bind you to survival and
possession. Then you will
be liberated, you will be in
the space of completion
and ready to reach the
Supreme Being.
