Bhagavad Gita Chapter 13

Understanding The Energy

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THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM iti kṣetraṁ tathā jñānaṁ jñeyaṁ co 'ktaṁ samāsataḥ madbhakta etadvijñāya madbhāvāyopapadyate

Thus the field of activities, knowledge and the knowable has been summarily described by Me. It is only when we can understand the true nature of our supreme Self and the material world with which we have created false identities that we can go beyond this and attain the supreme Self itself

Powerful Cognition

The understanding of the kṣetra, the illusory world created by our minds, is important in helping us to differentiate between reality and non-reality

prakṛtiṁ puruṣaṁ caiva viddhyanādī ubhāvapi vikārāṁś ca guṇāṁś caiva viddhi prakṛti saṁbhavān

Prakṛti or the field and its attributes and the puruṣa or the knower or the supreme consciousness are both without beginning. All the transformations of nature that we see are produced by the field or prakṛti

Powerful Cognition

It is only in the uncorrupted and pure inner space of completion that God manifests and the Divine consciousness is perceived.

kārya-kāraṇa-kartṛtve hetuḥ prakṛtirucyate puruṣaḥ sukha-duḥkhānāṁ bhoktṛtve heturucyate

In the production of the body and the senses, prakṛti is said to be the cause; In the experience of pleasure and pain, puruṣa is said to be the cause

Powerful Cognition

The understanding that this world is nothing but a projection of the mind, the understanding that this is not our real identity, will put us into reality

Introduction

Kṛṣṇa delivers the Bhagavad Gītā to Arjuna standing in a chariot on the battlefield of kurukṣetra. If you look a little deeper, this is a beautiful picture of each of us. Kṛṣṇa represents the Self, the charioteer, knower of the field, kṣetrajña, the one who runs the show. If the charioteer does not know how to take charge, the horses start to pull the chariot in different directions.

These horses symbolize the senses and the mind pulling us to different places as they please, thus leaving us in a state of confusion in everything that we do. If we are not ready to control the horses, the horses will control us. This is what happens in our lives. Due to our lack of understanding about how to drive the chariot, we conveniently give the horses the authority

beyond the body and mind

The very understanding about the kṣetra, meaning the material things around us, teaches us how to control them. The minute we understand the kṣetra, the body-mind, we realize we are not the kṣetra! If we are the kṣetra, then how can we understand it? You see, we can read this book because we are not the book. There is a separation between the book and us. In the same way, only when we understand the kṣetra, do we understand that we are not the kṣetra. This understanding that we are not the kṣetra brings with it the understanding that we are the kṣetrajña. When we realize that we are the kṣetrajña, we have transcended the kṣetra.

Life Is A Dream

Actually, there is no such thing as kṣetra. It is a projection of the mind, just like a dream. You see, when we go to bed we know that we are so-and-so. We know our whole identity with solid clarity when we go to sleep. We know that even if we have dreams, they are not real. We will wake up the next day and continue our life.

But the minute we drift into the dream state, we start to think that the dream is real. The more we get into the dream, the more our identity completely changes to suit the role in the dream. What happens in the dream may not be related to what we do in real life. Yet we start to believe it all. If a lion in the dream attacks us, we feel fear and worry and we may even sweat as though it is really happening to us!

In the same way, we think this life is real. If I tell you now that the life that you are leading is nothing but a creation of your mind, will you believe me? No! You are so immersed in this dream that you think is real.

See, when we wake up from a dream, why do we suddenly understand that it was not real? It is because suddenly we perceive a separation between the dream and us. The understanding that it was merely a dream, puts us into reality. Similarly, the understanding that this world is nothing but a projection of the mind, the understanding that this is not our real identity, will put us into reality

Let us say we dream of winning some award in front of thousands of people. The mind is so powerful that it can create the entire picture including every detail of the auditorium, all the thousand people sitting and clapping, the speeches, everything that we would normally see in an auditorium. The mind is so powerful to be able to give life to the scene around us and not just to our identity in the dream. This is what the mind does in the so-called real world also. The only difference is that we wake up easily from our night dreams. However, we do not know how to wake up from this bigger day dream that we now think is reality.

WE ARE THE DIRECTORS OF OUR LIFE

Only an enlightened Master who has experienced the truth can awaken us to reality. Out of their compassion, these masters descend on planet Earth to tell us that everything we see around us is a projection of our minds.

The understanding of the kṣetra, the illusory world created by our minds, is important in helping us to differentiate between reality and non-reality. Kṛṣṇa says that we need to understand what kṣetra and kṣetrajña to realize the truth. Until then we blindly believe that the projection of our mind, the drama, is reality. We have created our own drama and are acting in it. By and by, we forget that we created the drama. We forget that we are not the roles or characters we enact on stage. We start judging and reacting to everything about it.

If a child is constantly reminded about the divinity within right from birth, it grows up to be a jīvan mukta, liberated while still in the body. This is how children were brought up in the vedic tradition. That is why the level of consciousness was so high.

When we fall into the present moment, we fall into eternity and that eternity is a combination of past, present and future. There is no distinction. In this state we become the witness of all time and space-related happenings. We become the witnessing consciousness. We become the knower and we witness the field or kṣetra with complete detachment. We realize that everything in the outer world is a drama or a dream, and anything that we attempt to do in our lives is housekeeping in this dream.

Any effort that we make is another act in this dream. The whole idea is to not become entangled or emotionally attached to the housekeeping in this dream. The idea is to enjoy it and watch it by becoming one with our true self.

Witness the consciousness that is witnessing. When you watch, detach from the thoughts, sit back, relax and watch. Do not try to create nourish or destroy the thoughts. The ultimate consciousn- ess that witnesses is beyond Brahma (Creator), Viṣṇu (Sustainer) or Śiva (Rejuvenator). When we learn to welcome thoughts and allow them to complete, they merely come and go.

It is like watching clouds in the sky. Even if there is a thought saying that you are witnessing, watch that thought also. Watch the witnessing until that thought also disappears. Go beyond and beyond, deep into your being. Go beyond the thought that you are witnessing. Please listen. As long as you think in your mind that you are witnessing, you are not witnessing. When the thought that you are witnessing exists, you are not witnessing. You are now caught in the thought, 'I am witnessing.' Drop that!

This last thought that you are witnessing is like a bridge between you and God, between you and the thoughtless space. Initially, when you try to witness your actions and your thoughts, it is natural to think that you are watching. Let it be. Having this thought is better than having a hundred incomplete thoughts bombarding your inner space. But go beyond. Do not stop there. Witness the thought that you are witnessing. Then the pure, uncorrupted and untouched complete inner space happens in you. It is only in the uncorrupted and pure inner space of completion that God manifests and the Divine consciousness is perceived. Understand, Completion is God.

GOALS:

To understand that we are kṣetrajña not kṣetra, the Self not the body-mind That just like we know our identity when we wake from sleep, so we can wake from life as a dream To understand the technique of witnessing

Assessments

What is prāṇa śakti?
What is the simple tattva we need to understand?
What is cakṣu?
Define puruṣa and prakṛti.
How does an Enlightened Master see truth?
How can the Master see 360 degrees?
What is the cause of our incompletions?
How can we dispel darkness?
When does the ego disappear?