Christina Sell

13.1 “The body is called a field, Arjuna; he who knows it is called the Knower of the field. This is the knowledge of those who know.”

13.2 “I am the Knower of the field in everyone, Arjuna. Knowledge of the field and its Knower is true knowledge.”

            This is where we started Saturday morning with Carlos Pomeda on our short journey through the Bhagavad Gita, at the San Marcos School of Yoga this weekend. But how can this be you ask? Christina has been teaching an immersion in Tucson all week and there are pictures on the Blog to prove it. I, Kelly, aka. The Husband, hosted Carlos and his wife, Suesi, here for the workshop and it was great.

            We had a very intimate group to study the Bhagavad Gita this weekend and for several of us it was our first time of delving into it. Everyone really enjoyed the weekend.

Actually, I read it for the first time this week in preparation for the weekend. I am sure that for many reading it the first time it strikes people as being very timeless.

How many of us are dealing with great conflict within ourselves and our lives? There may be no actual war and no one is going to die but that does not make it less personally painful. If you are a regular reader of the Blog you know that Christina has been going through a hard time in her life and I am intimately tied into that, and I am going through my own hard time. And we have a shared hard time also. So in the last few months that has made for a lot of hard times. Many times in the last few months as Arjuna lay down in his chariot depressed and dejected, I have sat down in my chair the same.

            So how do I apply the Bhagavada Gita to my life?

2.47 “You have the right to work, but never to the fruit of work. You should never engage in action for the sake of reward, nor should you long for inaction.”

Carlos thinks the first line of this is often misinterpreted. The word is, adikara, so rather than a, right to work, it is that our action is the only thing that we have jurisdiction over, not the outcome. The results matter, but are not up to me, so my focus becomes the action. This is a particular potent teaching for me, I often find myself predicting the future and becoming paralyzed rather than looking inside to my self and doing the best I can with my actions and accepting the mistakes I am going to make, and allowing that things could go horribly wrong and I may suffer, and as Christina’s therapist said, “suffering is not the worst thing in the world.”

Results do matter so what do we do next?

3.8 “Fulfill your duties; action is better than inaction. Even to maintain your body, Arjuna you are obliged to act.”

But how do we know what to do or how to act? First you have to know the field or the Self and how is that done?

6.10 “Those who aspire to the state of yoga should seek the Self in inner solitude through meditation. With body and mind controlled they should constantly practice one-pointedness, free from expectations and attachment to material possessions.”

It is nice that Krisna gives the beginners a little hope in very small steps.

2.40 “On this path effort never goes to waste. And there is no failure. Even a little effort toward spiritual awareness will protect you from the greatest fear.”

So now I take a small step to my cushion and pick up my bow and work towards Arjuna’s last words in the Bhagavad Gita.

18.73 “You have dispelled my doubts and delusions, and I understand through your grace. My faith is firm, and I will do your will.”