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Meaning of Philosophy

Last post June 29, 2006 03:17 AM by CHRM. 1 repiles.
June 29, 2006 02:29 AM 1
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Post Date: June 29, 2006
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Meaning of Philosophy


This April, while surfing the TV channels, I happened to switch to the Aastha channel at around 10.10 pm. There was a discourse going on by a saffron clothed swami with neatly kept white beard. He was speaking with a south indian accent. Then suddenly I got a glance of the title of the discourse – “Personal Excellence through the Bhagwat Gita”, This made my interest grow, and when I saw the number of participant in thousands, it further doubled my inquisitiveness. Now I started listening conscientiously. This was a special corporate training program organized for the corporate executives. People had come over from all sorts of industries.

This person in a saffron dhoti and angvastra was no other than Swami Sukhabodhananda. He was preaching on Applying the Principles of The Bhagwat Gita in Today’s Corporate World.

He chanted Sanskrit shlokas from the holy Gita and explained the shlokas - no chance of me recalling any shloka at all. But what fevicolled in my mind from the whole session was the word Philosophy and its counterpart in Sankrit – Darshan Shastra. Darshan means to see, to watch, to perceive. That’s the whole idea of philosophy. The gist of the Gita is to SEE whatever happens in your life and around you in the world. The universe is a learning ground for all of us. We should see and learn from the ups & downs, the joys & sorrows, all the sweet & sour experiences. But the only condition is

JUST BE A WITNESS, SEE, SEE AND ONLY SEE, DON’T GET ATTACHED AT ALL.


June 29, 2006 03:172
CHRM
Total Posts: 209
Join Date: May 17, 2006
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Post Date: June 29, 2006
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Location: India

Re: Meaning of Philosophy

Dear Sangi & Members,

Since you have initiated understanding philosophy thru the learnings and discourses of the sacred Bhagavad Gita, let me share few more insights on finding true happiness within ourselves and learning more than just philosophy.

We need to understand the Bhagavad Gita and, as much as you can, to follow the teaching in your life. It's not enough just reading the book and intellectually knowing the stories and dialogues. When you are in a crisis, or you are going through problems, rough times, hard times, when there is so much confusion in life - that is the time when one should apply the teaching of the Bhagavad Gita. Bhagavad means divine and Gita means a song - a song, which was sung by the Lord. A divine song. That's what Bhagavad Gita is all about.

This scripture is a very powerful book. So many things are here that we need nowadays, in this society, the environment we are living in. I've found this Bhagavad Gita is very practical. This is yoga too. It is said in the Gita that this book is the essence of all the scriptures - all the revealed scriptures, philosophy, Bible, Upanishads. You don't need to read all of them. Just read the Bhagavad Gita and you will know about all of them. It's a very compact scripture that deals with the practical aspects of life.

The Bhagavad Gita teaches us the art of life.

The Gita has so much psychology of the human mind. How does the human mind operate? What happens when we are in a situation where we have the understanding but where sometimes we don't use our understanding. Somehow we are totally blank. Then afterwards, we feel very sorry. We feel guilty - why did we do that? We feel bad and that goes on and on and we build some kind of block to ourselves. We don't understand many things - that we are the doers, that we have created all those blocks in us. That is why we are confused.

We do not seem to have a clear mind when we need to make a decision. We have several opinions and we also seek others' opinions. We are not sure. Because of that, we are living with such tension. There is always ongoing tension in our lives which then creates lots of commotion. Because of that commotion, we have no idea what's going on and what to do. That is why this scripture is very handy. Just take one example from this book. Try to apply one principle. You will see the difference in you. Your life will change. Your attitude will change.

Next time:
Nobody comes and makes you happy.
Nobody comes and makes you unhappy.
The real happiness is within.

Adapted from the excerpts by Pandit Hari Shankar Dabral..

Regards,

CHRM

"To win...you must stay in the game" - Claude Bristol
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