* Editor’s note: In an attempt to begin the week on the best note possible, we have decided to make Everyday Bhagavad-Gita a regular Sunday feature. So be sure to tune in every Sunday morning for your dose of Gita wisdom and be sure to pass the word along.

Everyday Bhagavad-Gita: It’s Not About the Body.

Verse 1.30: I am now unable to stand here any longer. I am forgetting myself, and my mind is reeling. I see only causes of misfortune, O Krishna, killer of the Keshi demon.

Last time, we talked about fear and how our fear is a result of our misidentifying ourselves with the material world and its experiences, instead of our spiritual selves.

If you were wondering what the material experience is all about, it can be summed up by the phrase “It’s all about me.” That’s the motivating force that drives one when they are entrapped in material consciousness.

The word “material” has now been tossed around a few times and you might be scratching your head wondering what exactly it means. Let’s make one thing clear: I’m not talking about yards of cloth, or the stuff you need to read and study.

“Material,” in the context of the Gita, relates to that which is temporary and seeing the world as separate from its real owner and controller—God.

This material consciousness blinds us to what is actually real and permanent: the spiritual spark, the soul, which is our true self and our eternal, loving relationship with God. By forgetting these two things, we set ourselves up for disappointment again and again in everything that we do.

The problem is that we associate “the me” that’s referred to in our “it’s all about me” behavior with the temporary material body. Since the body is temporary, all our efforts and plans to gratify and satisfy it are also temporary.

I’m sure you’ve had experiences like this . . .c’mon, be honest. We have and hear about experiences of this everyday such as the millionaire that’s never satisfied. Everyone else wants to be him and he’s thinking of how to get another hundred million more. Does he  get to take it with him when he passes away? No. It’s just temporary.

Trying to be happy with the temporary is like trying to convince a fish that it is natural for it to be happy living on land.

The natural environment for a fish is in the water. Somehow though, we don’t realize that this analogy perfectly applies to us. Our true self, the soul, is eternal meaning that it’s natural for us to be searching for permanence in every aspect of our existence. However, the problem is that due to our mud-stained glasses and some good old fashioned brainwashing, we are being convinced to think we can be happy with the temporary.

Arjuna right now is exactly where we are—identifying himself only with his body.

He’ll soon be informed that the first step to getting out of material consciousness starts by realizing that the actual “me” is the eternal spiritual spark that is within all of us, not the exterior covering called the body.

Vrindavan Rao was born into the bhakti tradition and grew up enveloped in it. However, her personal discovery of the bhakti path began in 2004 when she had the opportunity to go to a Vedic College in Belgium and since that time she has embraced it completely. Her love for travel has given her the opportunity to study Vedic texts, such as the Bhagavad-gita, in places such as India, Canada, Belgium, Ukraine and the United States under the guidance of several advanced practitioners.

She especially loves the Gita and refers to it as her “Guidebook for Life” since it contains practical answers for complicated questions and is currently writing a daily blog on every verse of the Gita. In addition, you can keep track of all the happenings of Everyday Bhagavad-Gita on Facebook and via Twitter.

Her background is in science and she not only has a Bacherlor’s degree in Biochemistry, but also a Masters in Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology. In her free time she loves to write, read, give presentations, sing and work out.

Editor: Thaddeus Haas

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