Look Within – Talks on the Bhagavad Gita by Swami Venkatesananda.

[Guest guest]

Krishna in the Gita gives a simple but elevating description of what

`I' am –

 

`Bhumiraaponalo vaayuh kham mano budhireva cha

 

Ahamkaara itiyam me bhinaa prakritirastadhaa

 

Apareyamitastvanyaam prakritim vidhi meparaam

 

Jivabhutaam mahaabaaho yayedam dhaaryate jagat'

 

`Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intellect and egoism –

thus is my nature divided eightfold. This is the inferior nature, O

mighty armed Arjuna; know thou as different from it my higher nature,

the very life element by which this world is upheld.

 

You are made of the same substance as the universe. And what are you

made of? Bhumir – earth element; apah – water; analah –

fire; vayuh – air and you exist in space and therefore there is

space in you and outside you.

 

Mano budhir eva cha – you have a mind. May be that cabbage also may

has a mind; my mind and the mind of the cabbage function on different

planes and therefore I am not able to understand its feelings, and it is

not able to understand mine.

 

Mano budhir eva cha – there is an intelligence that is able to say

that this is a man and this is a woman.

 

Sometimes people stretch this definition of what is called budhi to

include also discriminating judgements like " he is a good man "

and " he is not a good man " – I don't know if this is

true.

 

Budhi tells you which are which – this is a male, this is a female

(whether it tells you a lot more than that or whether it is a matter of

perversion, that's up to each one of us to decide).

 

In addition there is an ego sense, ahamkara. How and where it arises is

still one of the greatest mysteries.

 

Each one has to discover this for one self.

 

How do I know I am?

 

Do you know the famous Nasruddin story? It seems he went to a shop and

asked the shop keeper " do you know me? "

 

The shop keeper said, " yes " . Replied Nasruddin, " How do you

know it is me? "

 

Exactly! It is a big question. How do I know it is me? What tells me I

am sitting here?

 

The yoga – vasishta also gives us some dreadful soul awakening

examples – some drunkards and schizophrenics also sometimes have a

feeling that they are other than what they are.

 

May be they are right – how do I know that I am right and they are

wrong?

 

So, how and from where this ego sense arises, each one has to discover

for himself.

To be continued..