Book Review #11
A few months ago I picked up "An Atheist gets the Gita" from the Chennai Airport and last week I finished it. Ukrainian author Galyna Kogut, PhD and Rahul Singh, have done a fantastic job to introduce the Bhagavad Gita. The whole book is setup as a conversation between a newly minted MBA and his two decades senior alumnus. While the book is supposed to be about 'The Gita' it veers across many other sources including the Bhagavatam, Upanishads and Ramayana to help the reader understand the following major ideas
1. Happiness: Everything we do, all the choices we make are directed towards the objective of becoming happy. The four 'purusharthas' (objects of human pursuits) namely Artha (Economic), Kama (Psychological), Dharma (Moral) and Moksha (Spiritual) are all geared towards seeking happiness
2. Dharma: Dharma is not Religion; It is that which all jivas (living entities) need to do to bind together the universe's order. It is nuanced (dharma sukshma) e.g. telling a lie is adharma but a lie said to save a life is not; likewise in the the right situation even killing is dharma when it is done to uphold righteousness and not just to protect oneself or our kith and kin
3. Soul: The soul is our true identity and is imperishable and everlasting. The Gita makes the passing of soul from one body to another (through death) as a trivial event. Soul is eternal and those who don't see this are under the constant fear of death or worried about leaving a legacy
4. Karma: The journey of the soul in the material world is governed by the laws of karma with the ultimate objective of having an accumulated (sanchit) karma of zero. Both good karma and bad karma create bondages to the material world. What the soul needs is akarma. A good deed done with expectation of a reward is good karma but when it is done without any selfish desire then it becomes 'akarma'
5. God: Understanding God is beyond the IQ of human beings but one way to think about God is that paradoxically all pervading expanse that is both the creator and the creation. Hence in a way we are all a part of God itself
6. Yoga: Yoga means union with the all pervading (brahman - not to be confused with Brahmin). This can be through karma yoga (selfless action), gyana yoga (knowledge), dhyana yoga (meditation) and bhakti yoga(devotion). Yoga Asanas (twisting/exercising) is just one of the eight limbs of dhyana yoga and is often confused as Yoga itself
7. Peace of mind: Is possible only if we reduce attachment as attachment to anything creates lust; lust creates anger; anger begets delusion; from delusion comes loss of memory which leads to loss of intelligence that eventually leads to destruction
Read this book if you are spiritually curious but I don't think it can make an atheist a believer. Overall a brisk read for anyone with a background of Hinduism; definitely a book that contributes to the Indic Renaissance that Sai Deepak J espouses.
#bookreview #spirituality #happiness
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