Nicholas Acker Outside Reading #2: Bhagavad Gita

This section of reading embodies the overall message of the Gita. This is how one should act to be dearly loved by Krishna, and to be loved by Krishna is to attain dharma and eternal peace. Those who follow him closely are protected and incredibly knowledgeable. Krishna implies that keeping yourself at peace and practicing yoga will bring one closer to him and closer to finding the “supreme self”. He also states in chapter 15 that reaching the supreme Self is a dignified act of Krishna. Yoga is the key to understanding oneself and becoming closer to Krishna and ultimately, to have the same knowledge and understanding as Krishna himself. The fact that the Hindu beliefs are so concerned with the inner self and not the outer is almost a complete opposite of the beliefs and values we experience in the West. Here, money and looks overpower the idea of attaining inner peace and ultimate understand of themselves and the world around them. Yoga is slowly creeping into our western society though, and with it comes the state that it induces. The practice is almost a stress relief for some people and has many other purposes than simply the meditative ones the eastern religions focus on.