"A Living Scripture"

(Sample chapter from Manifesting Divine: An Action Plan for the Advent of Spiritual Man, a collection of talks by Swami Sri Atmananda.)

OM Namo Bhagavate

In the present era, when the consciousness on earth is in turmoil, some scripture, some teaching, must hold the possibility of guiding the emerging universal man to the path of perfection.  That scripture is Gita, the celestial song, the essence of eternal wisdom.  It deals with different stages of the eternal journey, which begins from turmoil and ends with the withering away of the ego.  Gita is a path that was shown to mankind by God Himself.  It came not as a teaching nor as a preaching, but as a revelation.  It came as a direction to the awakened psychic in Man. 

Gita is a living scripture that guides the awakened human soul on the path to perfection.  Gita reveals itself at every transition, during every turning of History and gives a new meaning as per the need of the time of its revelation.  The different interpretations of Gita are not reflections of diversity but pointers of its universal resilience and inherent unity, the unity that Truth is one but seers speak of it in different ways.

Gita is not a book of theoretical wisdom.  It is a scripture of practical living which can reveal to mankind a definite path to follow in this hour of crisis.  If understood properly, Gita can show an inner path that leads to a new consciousness for humanity.  Gita teaches the path to perfection, to merger, not by rejecting life but asserting that life itself is yoga.  Each chapter is purposely linked to gradually convey the idea that every man is an incarnation of Divine, whether a saint or sinner, a seer or common man. 

Gita was born in a situation of conflict.  In every era of transition this conflict is felt both inwardly and in the outer life.  How to face this conflict?  How to resolve this problem?  How to bring harmony between the inner turmoil and the outer conflict?  That is the problem that Gita attempts to solve by showing to mankind a new path to truth, to light, to perfection.  Gita can serve as a guide to the individual man and also to the universal man.  It can work to benefit the collective mankind in this era of transition, this era of conflict. 

Gita began in a battlefield.  This refers to the inner battle that results whenever Man is awakened to the call of the spirit.  At that time there is bound to be a conflict between the desire in Man and the aspiration in Man.  This constant struggle between the desire of the earthly being and the aspiration of the divine being makes the journey a challenging one.  When desire surrenders at the feet of aspiration, when the human life is transformed into life divine, Man can realize his divine nature and can find his purpose of embodiment. 

A modern man is one who has a fully developed sense of reasoning, who is open to the spirit of inquiry, who has the courage to face the unknown, who is not easily perturbed by adversities, and who is not a slave to the senses.  Since the intellect in Man is highly developed in the present time, itis difficult for him to blindly surrender to any master.  Without surrender there is no possibility in yoga.

If the modern man cannot surrender blindly, is there any hope for him?  Is there any likelihood that he can reach the culmination of his human journey?  Can he realize God and manifest his own mission?  The answer is, yes.  Gita holds hope for such a seeker, because Gita is based on reasoning.  It leads the seeker from understanding to experience, from experience to realization, and ultimately, from realization to manifestation. 

I sincerely feel there are hundreds and thousands of individuals on this planet who are awakened, who need the light, who are seeking the guidance but are not able to find it.  It is to them that I present this eternal scripture, so that they understand their dilemma and find the solution to their predicament.  With this tool in hand, one may successfully apply the effort that will transform the human life into life divine.

All glory to Divine.

Copyright 2004 Satyachetana Ashram.