Bruce Pennington / On The Gita

JasonFelice asked for my thoughts on The Bhagavad Gita, According to Gandhi. I'm still reading, but will post as I go. Most of my quotes will be from Gandhi's exposition of the Gita as much to the Gita's lanuage is couched in names and literary language that are not as clearly understood by the untutored reader (like me!) -- BrucePennington

Where it Agrees with the Bible

• "How can one be free...from the taint of sin? ...by dedicating all activities to God, i.e., surrendering oneself to Him body and soul."
• One must lose one's life to gain it.
• "He is the devotee who is jealous of none, who is a fount of mercy, who is without egotism, who is selfless, who is ever forgiving, who is always contented, whose resolutions are firm, who has dedicated mind and soul to God, who causes no dread, who is not afraid of others, who is free from exultation, sorrow and fear, who is pure, who is versed in action and yet remains unaffected by it, who renounces fruit, good or bad, who treats friend and foe alike, who is untouched by respect or disrespect, who is not puffed up by praise, who does not go under when people speak ill of him, who loves silence and solitude, who has a disciplined reason."
• "The Gita has sung the praises of knowledge, but is beyond the mere intellect. It is essentially addressed to the heart and capable of heing understood by the heart."
• "We should trust everything to God, as children to parents."
• Gita 2(40) "Here no effort undertaken is lost..."
• "Along this path one must hold one's intellect so firm that there is no wavering."
• "I have come to the conclusion that no one can be called mukta (liberated) whle he is still alive." [free from sensual lusts]
• Gita 2(64) "But the disciplined soul,...brought under the control of Atman attains peace of mind."
• "...that a good yogi should offer up to God everything he does, whether it be good or indifferent, should look upon Him as the sole author of everthting."
• "A man works for the good of others when he spends his body in their service. This should be done in a spirit of dedication o God....we please God by worshipping Him through physical labor."
• "He is omnipotent...he can destroy and create the universe with a mere thought."
• Gita 3:(25) "But even so...should the enlightened man act with a desire for the welfare of humanity."
• "The road to hell is paved with good intentions."
• "Though living in the human body, we should imitate God as much as we can."
• "Our eyes are closed with bandages, like those over the eyes of a bullock in the oil-press."..."In the same way, everyone has the bandage of ignorance grown over their eyes..."
• "...we are all imperfect."
• "The purest act, if tainted by self, binds; but when it is done in a spirit of dedication, it ceases to bind ... similarly, he who has voluntarily made himself God's prisoner does nothing himself. His body mechanically acts. The doer is God, not he."
• "So for him mercy or forgiveness is the purest justice. Being himself ever liable to be judged, he must accord to others what he would accord to himself, viz. forgiveness."

{more to come, as I continue my study}

Divergiant or Half-Truths

• "God is, nothing else is." Christianity teaches that the universe is real.
• Gita 2(22) "As man casts off worn-out garments and takes others that are new, even so the embodied one casts off worn-out bodies and passes on to others new." The Bible teaches that we only get one chances at life, then face judgement. I compare reincarnation with Biblical reality in my article Reincarnation: A Letter to a Brother
• Gita 2(52) "Who owns attachment nowhere, who feels neither joy nor resentment whether good or bad comes his way -- that man's understanding is secure." The God of Christianity rejoices in us and desires our joy to be in Him.
• "Though God is without form and impersonal,..." The Christian God is a personal god.
• "Man does not live by bread alone. ... His real food is prayer. ... You ought to get up in time and attend prayers everyday. ... It provides an opportunity to feel one with all living creatures." Jesus said our food is "every word of God." Prayer gives us the opportunity to become one with God; but all living creatures are created beings, sustained by God, in Jesus Christ. Creation presents a picture of God's qualities like order and beauty; but they are a shadow of His reality. Only Jesus is "the full representation of His being."

{more to come as I continue my study}

Full Disagreement

Gita 5(2) "Renunciation and performance of action both lead to salvation..." Here is the heart of the matter. The best lies contain as much truth as possible. If I had the power to design a false religion with the intent of leading God's potential followers astray, I would include as many beautiful teachings of Truth as possible; but change the key ingredient that enables them to truly connect with God. Here, the Gita teaches that salvation - release from this life of struggle, to reunite with God - is gained by our own efforts, our own works. Christianity teaches, in fact Jesus taught, that salvation only comes through the work of Jesus' sacrifice in our stead. Our only part is to repent and believe, surrendering our hearts to Him as Lord. Our works and performance in His service then flow from our love for Him.

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Jason, Gandhi talks often of hell and Satan. It this a Hindu belief? I thought one continued in reincarnation until one achieved Nirvana, therefore no hell. -- BrucePennington

I'll have to find the passage(s) and look again, but I do know that the Hindu parish in which Gandhi participated in his formative years would cite and discuss Muslim, Jain, and Buddhist scriptures--and would have cited Christian scriptures as well, except that apparently the Christian missionaries at the time had the terrible practice of standing on street corners telling everybody that they were damned sinners, idolaters (sp?), what not. I would guess, that Gandhi would invoke the devil as a metaphor or personification of the force of evil or temptation (in a way compatible with Hinduism), but not as some actual entity.

As for hell, I've seen the term used in Hinduism and Buddhism as more of a mental state than a place in the afterlife. As in "one creates one's own hell." This is consistent with the notion of karma.

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An intereseting beginning in Chapter 4: Gita 4(1) I expounded this imperishable yoga to Vivasvan. Vivasvan communicated it to Manu, and Manu to Ikshvaku. (2) Thus handed down in succession, the royal sages learnt it. With long lapse of time it dwindled away in this world, O Parantapa. (3) The same ancient yoga have I expounded to thee today..."

Gandhi: "This yoga was known from the beginning of time, but has perished in this age."

Upon reflection, I think it is true of all religions, except Christianity, that their core teachings were lost at one time and are now retold, or were corrupted and reclarified by angelic beings. Mormonism and Islam both teach that the truth was corrupted over time, but have now been clarified. The Gita seems to have been known from the beginning, but was lost. Jehovah's Witnesses teach a clarified version of the Truth. It fits perfectly with the concept that generated my review of the Gita -- the idea that all world religions are spin-offs, or diluted versions of the original Truth. This explains why they all contain common truths. It is fascinating that they all, as well, mention that the original truth had been lost. Christianity, as far as I can tell, is the only major religion that makes no such claim, implying that it is the original. -- BrucePennington

I think if Judaism and Christianity as outgrowths of what might be called Israelite religion. Where does this Israelite religion fit in your spin-off-and original-Truth theory? -- Eliz

Eliz, you might want to give me a fuller description of your perspective on Israelite religion, as the origin of Judaism/Christianity?. I'm not sure how you mean that. I see the original Truth as that relationship and understanding between God, Adam, and Eve. As the descendants of Adam and Eve spread over the earth, some of them faithfully taught their children about YHWH; some rejected all knowledge about Him; and some told partial truths about Him with everything in between. The same thing probably happened after Noah's flood as well. Of course, as God began re-revealing Himself to us through His encounters with Abraham and his kids; eventually giving us His Word through Moses and the prophets, we got the Truth revealed to us in written form. Certainly, Judaism grew (in not such good ways) as the Jewish leaders expanded their interpretations, the Pharisitical law, on top of God's revelation. But, I see the Truth revealed in the Bible as THE Truth. All else is watered down, diluted, morphed versions that developed over centuries as parents did a poor job teaching their kids, like the Telephone Game, or Gossip Game changes the facts while retaining something of the original. Hope this addresses your question. Please let me know if you meant something else! -- BrucePennington