This week we summarized topics from the previous three classes. Topics include:
- The purpose of yoga
- The symptoms of life
- The impersonal brahman
- The distortion of Krishna’s pastimes
Additional topics include:
- Brahma’s creation story and the Govinda Prayers
- How to show compassion to those we disagree with
Stream
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Homework
Read up to Chapter 12 in Gita Wisdom: An Introduction to India’s Essential Yoga Text. Read Chapter 9 in Bhagavad Gita As It Is.
Mentioned in this podcast
Texts
Vocabulary
- Parashakti – superior energy (the living force)
- Aparashakti – inferior energy (matter)
- Tatasta shakti – marginal energy (individual souls)
- Nitya siddha – eternally liberated being
- Nitya buddha – eternally conditioned being (until liberation)
Other
Govinda Prayer
govindam ādi-puruṣaḿ tam ahaḿ bhajāmi
veṇuḿ kvaṇantam aravinda-dalāyatākṣam-
barhāvataḿsam asitāmbuda-sundarāńgam
kandarpa-koṭi-kamanīya-viśeṣa-śobhaḿ
govindam ādi-puruṣaḿ tam ahaḿ bhajāmi
I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is adept in playing on His flute, with blooming eyes like lotus petals with head decked with peacock’s feather, with the figure of beauty tinged with the hue of blue clouds, and His unique loveliness charming millions of Cupids.
ańgāni yasya sakalendriya-vṛtti-manti
paśyanti pānti kalayanti ciraḿ jaganti
ānanda-cinmaya-sad-ujjvala-vigrahasya
govindam ādi-puruṣaḿ tam ahaḿ bhajāmi
I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, whose transcendental form is full of bliss, truth, substantiality and is thus full of the most dazzling splendor. Each of the limbs of that transcendental figure possesses in Himself, the full-fledged functions of all the organs, and eternally sees, maintains and manifests the infinite universes, both spiritual and mundane.
Recommended Reading
Gita Wisdom: An Introduction to India’s Essential Yoga Text
Bhagavad Gita As It Is