Seven Messages of The Bhagavat Gita
The Bhagavad Gita is the most popular and revered scripture of the Hindu faith.
This talk is designed as an introduction to its key messages.
Content and structure
Introductory comments
1 The spiritual crisis of Arjuna – The Gita as an allegory for the battle involving
Dharmakshetre (the field of Dharma) and Kurukshetre (the field of Action)
2 Sadhana (spiritual practice) as the dynamic tension between Dharma
(doing the right thing) and Yoga (being the right person)
Vishnu as Lord of Dharma and Shiva as Lord of Yoga
3 The yogas of the Gita. Bhakti (devotion) Gynana (knowledge) and Karma
(action in life) Karma yoga as the path of ‘disentangled participation’
4 Yoga as ‘Chitta Vritti Nirodha’ or Cessation of the ‘Modifications of Mind’
5 Yoga as ‘The Breaking of Contact with Pain’
6 Yoga as ‘Kshetrajana’ or ‘Knower of the Field’
The Witness state or ‘buddhi yoga’
7 The message of cosmology – the nature of time and cyclical systems
‘The Breath of Brahma’ ‘without Krishna it will not be done
without Arjuna it cannot be done’ – the principle of synergy
This talk is designed to be only 30-40 minutes long, leaving time for questions and answers with the audience within a one hour slot.