This ancient yoga (the way of Self- and God-realization) is today declared by Me to you, since you are my devotee and friend. This secret is supreme indeed.
–Bhagavad Gita 4.3 The words of Krishna, the divine Self, to the seeking soul, Arjuna.
The universal, eternal teaching, the secret of all secrets, is simply this: there is only one Reality. This divine Reality, this Supreme Consciousness, is all in all. It is never born; It never perishes. And you, my dear friend, are That. This Self is the Self of all. This ancient teaching of oneness is only given to those who are ready; those whose hearts and minds are receptive. It is given when we are ready to listen and to live in harmony with this truth. Once we know this truth about life, it changes everything. It is the great secret that is right before our eyes, once they are opened.
The Bhagavad Gita, which means “The Song of God,” is a dialog between Lord Krishna, representing our Higher Self or God within us, and the warrior Arjuna. This dialog takes place in the midst of a great battle. Arjuna faces the necessity of going to war against his own kin—his family members, his friends and former teachers, in order to reclaim his rightful place as heir to the kingdom.
The opening scene is a description of the battlefield, of all of the warriors poised for a great slaughter. But this battlefield is not an ordinary battlefield. It is called Dharmakshetra Kurukshetra, which signifies the battlefield of the Kurus but more significantly it means—the field of righteousness. This field is our consciousness. It is the place where the battle between our own higher drives and lower tendencies, our soul’s inspiration and our ego’s inclination, takes place. This is an inner battle and it is the one that every person encounters on the path to spiritual maturity.
Arjuna is a successful and accomplished warrior. The duty before him is to fight to occupy his rightful place in the kingdom which has been usurped by his ne’er-do-well cousins. It is his duty and that of his brothers, to rule this kingdom, but there are squatters in high places who won’t budge, who won’t leave without a fight.
Who are these evil cousins? They are symbolic of our own lower tendencies—anger, lust, greed, ignorance, selfishness, pride, laziness—and so forth. There are 100 of them. They are the habits and tendencies that rob our bodies and minds of vital force. They are our unchecked, ego-driven desires that crowd out the still, small voice of the soul’s guidance.
Arjuna does not want to fight this battle. He’s confused, he’s depressed, and in despair. He’s overwhelmed. He can’t see any way to succeed. Here is his dilemma: Even if he is victorious over his relatives, he can’t imagine what life without them would be. He’s between a rock and a hard place. He is in a crisis. He can’t go back and he doesn’t want to go forward. This is a crisis of faith.
Have you ever had a time in your life when you knew you had to make a change but you couldn’t see your way through it? You knew there was a situation, a habit, or way of being that you had to let go of but you could not imagine how your life would be without it? Couldn’t see how you would cope, be happy, or succeed?
Arjuna’s dilemma is the crisis we must face on the journey of soul awakening, when we are ready to take the next step toward spiritually conscious living. It arises when we become aware that there is something else we truly desire. We recognize that if we keep living in the same way, we are not going to find it. We want to live another way but we don’t yet know how to do that. This is the beginning of spiritual transformation and the doorway to discipleship. We are ready.
—Ellen Grace O’Brian
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