Bhagavad-Gita ("The Divine Song," or "Song of God") is one of the most central books of Hinduism, and, perhaps, one of the most profound books in the world's philosophy and history of religion.
It's a book of tremendous power.
One of the most popular editions of the book was published by the International Society of Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), better known to the world as the "Hare Krishna" movement.
The text itself is relatively short, but in the ISKCON edition it is combined with extensive commentaries by Srila Prabhupada (the founder of ISKCON) to every verse, as well as his preface and introduction. Srila (or Swami) Prabhupada is a literalist - and, that combined with his extensive Vedic education, enables him to provide a lot of supplementary material in his commentaries, which is rather precise - that is the "virtue," if such may be of literalists.
What's the usefulness of this book to the Work and to this forum, some may ask?
The answer which I would like to provide is that self-remembering is, for what it's worth, a stepping-stone, a preparation to Krishna Consciousness.
The central idea of the book is, as stated above, the development of Krishna Consciousness, that is, the ability to permanently focus your mind on the Higher Level of Being. You can consider Krishna as being 7D or even higher.
Another Work idea that I apply to the study of the book is that of the 5 "rooms" in our "home," that is, the machine, or our lower body.
According to Gurdjieff, a man #4 is able to work in all the "rooms" simultaneously - that is, in the Emotional, Intellectual, Moving, Instinctive, and Sexual Center. In other words, since the 4th Way is a kind of combination, or "distillation," of the other three ways (the Way of the Fakir, the Way of the Monk, and the Way of the Yogi), a man #4 should be able to use, virtually, any practice of the other three ways, if they are useful in his work on him/herself.
The concept of bhakti, or unconditional love of God, is, maybe, the property of the Way of the Monk, or man #2. However, this doesn't mean that a man #4 should consider it below him/herself.
A similar idea has been referred to by P. D. Ouspensky, when talking about the book "The Way of the Pilgrim" and the practice of "constant prayer" referred to in it.
Bhagavad Gita is full of practical advice and direct recommendations for life and activity.
The concentration of high philosophical ideas, indisputable from the logical point of view, is so high in this small text, that it is easy to comply with the idea that it is a "sacred text," that is a text at least spoken from a higher level than that of man.
If you have a chance to read it, don't miss it.
And to conclude, I would like to quote one verse from Bhagavad-Gita:
It's a book of tremendous power.
One of the most popular editions of the book was published by the International Society of Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), better known to the world as the "Hare Krishna" movement.
The text itself is relatively short, but in the ISKCON edition it is combined with extensive commentaries by Srila Prabhupada (the founder of ISKCON) to every verse, as well as his preface and introduction. Srila (or Swami) Prabhupada is a literalist - and, that combined with his extensive Vedic education, enables him to provide a lot of supplementary material in his commentaries, which is rather precise - that is the "virtue," if such may be of literalists.
What's the usefulness of this book to the Work and to this forum, some may ask?
The answer which I would like to provide is that self-remembering is, for what it's worth, a stepping-stone, a preparation to Krishna Consciousness.
The central idea of the book is, as stated above, the development of Krishna Consciousness, that is, the ability to permanently focus your mind on the Higher Level of Being. You can consider Krishna as being 7D or even higher.
Another Work idea that I apply to the study of the book is that of the 5 "rooms" in our "home," that is, the machine, or our lower body.
According to Gurdjieff, a man #4 is able to work in all the "rooms" simultaneously - that is, in the Emotional, Intellectual, Moving, Instinctive, and Sexual Center. In other words, since the 4th Way is a kind of combination, or "distillation," of the other three ways (the Way of the Fakir, the Way of the Monk, and the Way of the Yogi), a man #4 should be able to use, virtually, any practice of the other three ways, if they are useful in his work on him/herself.
The concept of bhakti, or unconditional love of God, is, maybe, the property of the Way of the Monk, or man #2. However, this doesn't mean that a man #4 should consider it below him/herself.
A similar idea has been referred to by P. D. Ouspensky, when talking about the book "The Way of the Pilgrim" and the practice of "constant prayer" referred to in it.
Bhagavad Gita is full of practical advice and direct recommendations for life and activity.
The concentration of high philosophical ideas, indisputable from the logical point of view, is so high in this small text, that it is easy to comply with the idea that it is a "sacred text," that is a text at least spoken from a higher level than that of man.
If you have a chance to read it, don't miss it.
And to conclude, I would like to quote one verse from Bhagavad-Gita:
