Today's Topics: 

The Ramayana, chapters 7-14

As you make your way to the end of the book, keep the following three states of the soul in mind (which will be further explained in The Bhagavad-Gita):

lucidity -- the state of clear thinking
passion -- emotional connection to the earthly world / suffering
dark inertia -- the state of delusional thinking and confusion

As we have learned, Eastern beliefs prioritize the mind over the body.  Easterners will typically view this world as one filled with illusions (also called maya).  We cannot trust our eyes or our senses, since they can be so easily fooled.  We have all seen the "water" on the road on a hot summer day, and we all have said "Hi" to a stranger that we thought we recognized as a familiar face!  Eastern followers will meditate to clear their minds of their conscious thoughts (their earthly passions and connections), in favor of tapping into the deeper spiritual essences of our inner beings.

Notice that Rama is consistently in a state of lucidity from this point in the story until the end.  Although he slipped into passion when he chased the golden deer (and also when he griped to Lakshmana about Sugreeva's failure to arrive after the rains), Rama will now demonstrate his clearest thinking, such as he did when he killed Vali.  All passions distract us from our intellectual or spiritual pursuits, so we must learn to detach ourselves from them in order to become lucid.

Ravana, on the other hand, consistently demonstrates both passion and dark inertia.  Falling in love/lust with a verbal description of Sita shows his propensity for passion, which has therefore clouded his judgment, allowing him to slip into dark inertia.  He changes the weather, draws faulty conclusions, and creates a lot of confusion about nothing of consequence.  He is hopelessly lost in the dark, spinning wildly out of control (inertia), with no reasonable direction or destination.

In chapter 7, Rama patiently waits for the monsoon season to end so that he can be met by Sugreeva and his monkey army.  This will allow them to look for Sita by covering the countryside with more sets of eyes.  Unfortunately for Rama, Sugreeva has forgotten about his duty to Rama, and instead parties in his palace after Rama had reinstated him as king of Kiskinda.  Sugreeva is basking in wine, women, food, and pleasure, all the while Rama waits patiently for his arrival.  On page 119, Rama displays anger and frustration at Sugreeva, at one point threatening to kill the little monkey.  Rama quickly clarifies his tone with Lakshmana, sending his brother on a quest to locate Sugreeva.

Lakshmana finds our little monkey friend inside his palace, and he angrily knocks some sense into this slacker, who can't believe that he became lost in his own drunkenness.  Upon returning to Rama's exiled location, Sugreeva apologizes and scolds himself for having a "monkey mind" (page 124).  This concept of a monkey mind is a popular one in Hindu literature, and it refers to the turbulent mind that is overtaken by earthly desires.  Rama is quick to forgive Sugreeva, deciding instead to focus on what Sugreeva can do for him now rather than dwelling on his past folly.  Apparently, Sugreeva is now prepared to perform his duties to Rama by gathering the monkey army.  Remember that in Eastern philosophies, the current moment is more important than the past or present, mainly because you can control your actions right now.

Along the way, Lakshmana stumbles upon Sampathi, the older brother of the eagle god, Jatayu.  Jatayu had been killed in the previous chapter, and Sampathi had been rendered powerless by the demon armies.  Lakshmana simply states Rama's name to allow Sampathi to regain his lost eminence.  Sampathi has some good news and some bad news: he has seen where Ravana took Sita (Sri Lanka), but he can't join them in the battle since he has to sit on the throne and lead his people in his brother's stead.  Why does he do this?  Notice that Sampathi has a dharma that must be satisfied.  Everyone has his duty, and Sampathi's duty is first to his people, then to Rama.  Other characters (such as Sugreeva) are bound to serve Rama directly, so you can see that each creature has its own dharma to fulfill.

Hanuman uses his size-changing powers to take a single step from India to the island of Sri Lanka, then shrinks himself back down to monkey size to look for Sita.  Apparently none of the demons notice a giganto monkey stepping onto their island.  (Do you see why these demons just don't "get it"?)  On page 132 Hanuman thinks he sees Sita, but notices her unflattering sleeping position, therefore drawing the conclusion that she is not Sita (but rather Mandodari, Ravana's wife).  We had learned that one's physical appearance is not an accurate reflection of his soul, so why does Hanuman use physical features to identify this woman?  Well, he's not really looking at her physical features as much as he sees her subconscious reactions while sleeping.  Apparently, one's true nature can be seen during sleep, since we don't control our own subconscious thoughts and actions.

The next several pages in chapters 8 and 9 show Ravana's family speaking out against him, one by one.  I highlighted five different speakers who take a stand against Ravana's wildly erratic behavior:

Page 133, after Hanuman is captured, Ravana aims to destroy this monkey king.  Vibishana scolds Ravana for wanting to kill a mere messenger.  This allows Hanuman to escape while setting Ravana's kingdom on fire.

On page 136, Ravana's commander-in-chief scolds Ravana for stealing Sita rather than fighting Rama, and that the animals that rise against Ravana are part of a divine purpose that he better acknowledge.

On page 136 again, another speaker blindly ponders why they should be afraid of a monkey.  After all, they eat monkeys, so why fear your own food?  (I explained that I don't fear a shark when it is on my plate, but in the ocean is a different story!)

On page 137, Kumbakarna (Ravana's brother) reminds Ravana that his bad karma has caused their current disasters, and that the future must hold worse things if they do not surrender Sita.

Also on page 137, Ravana's own son, Indrajit, is so arrogant and foolish that he believes that he himself can vanquish the great Rama, even though thousands of demons have attempted and failed.  What was he thinking, the little squirt?  Would he not command all the glory (if victorious), thereby outperforming his own father, denying him his due honor?  Selfish acts are chaotic, but selfless ones are noble.  None of these demons seem to be thinking clearly, except for two: Mareecha, Ravana's uncle, and Ravana's brother Vibishana.

Finally, on page 138, Vibishana lets Ravana have it.  He aggressively tells Ravana that his actions will lead to doom, but Ravana refuses to listen.
Dark inertia evokes this quality of spinning wildly out of control.  It represents confusion of the spirit, and the most delusional and chaotic thinking possible.  Ravana is a perfect example of this, especially when he blames all of their problems on Sita (he erroneously argues that she must be to blame ... because if she weren't so beautiful, Ravana would have never fallen in love).  You can see that this makes no sense whatsoever, and Ravana probably said this because he is too weak to admit his faults or not man enough to assume the consequences of his own actions.  In fact, after Hanuman burns down the island, Ravana's architect, Maya, rebuilds the city.  The word Maya in Sanskrit means "illusion."  Seems appropriate that Ravana's home is build upon illusion, since none of it is real or lasting, just like the physical, material world of dualities in which we currently suffer.

Ravana claims (on page 139) that he is not afraid of Vishnu (Rama) since Vishnu has "never won a single battle."  Well, that is a lie, since Vishnu has already won several important battles in his six previous incarnations.  Why does Ravana say this?  Pride.  Hubris.  Dark inertia.

Remember from the first unit, we learned that the cycle of life is an ongoing rotation from birth, through life, and then to death.  The Hindu Triad likewise represents these three important life forces: Brahma (Creator) ---> Vishnu (Preserver) ---> Shiva (Destroyer).  All three are essential to the life cycle, but they are always rotating.  Ravana, if you recall, was blessed by Shiva, the Destroyer, meaning that Ravana will serve an important role of destruction, a necessary force to allow for rebirth.  Ravana, however, is not thinking about this life cycle properly.

Through his confusion and delusion, Ravana mistakenly believes that anything protected by Vishnu will ultimately be destroyed by Shiva.  It is partially correct to assume that, no matter what Vishnu does, all things must come to an end.  However, Ravana denies the next step after destruction, which is creation/birth/Brahma, which starts the cycle over again.  Ravana looks at destruction as the final step, but it is only one of three forces that continually wax and wane, over and over again.  Sure, all things preserved will become destroyed, but then they will become reborn, meaning that neither of these three forces is superior to the other.  Ravana has made an interpretation that allows him to view the blessings of Shiva to be better than the protective forces of Vishnu, but this is delusional (both forces are equal).  This is one reason why Ravana's brothers and cousins begin to step away from Ravana, either resigning from the battle or being dismissed by Ravana himself.

After Vibishana is kicked out of Ravana's lair, he will seek protection from the great protector, Rama (Vishnu).  He decides to change teams, so to speak, and asks Rama for asylum.  Rama asks his advisors what they think, and one-by-one they agree that Vibishana is a demon and a traitor, and therefore can't be trusted.  They all get their say, until Rama asks Hanuman, the scholarly Monkey King, for his opinion.

Hanuman is reluctant to speak, but he offers a different perspective -- that Rama should provide protection to this demon brother of Ravana.  The others are aghast, but Rama agrees with Hanuman, who saw first-hand how Vibishana had decided to use his powers for the good of others rather than for self-gain.  Hanuman recalls, for instance, how Vibishana's house was orderly, much like a priest's house, whereas the other demons lived in filth and disarray, or their homes were filled with temptations.  Rama explains that providing sanctuary to the needy is a noble virtue, even if it causes him harm, and he references a story of a famous king who set such an example.  This story is from the greater epic, The Mahabharatha, and is not located in The Ramayana:

One day, a great king named Sibi had thrown a rich wedding reception for his daughter.  After a day filled with dancing, food, and wine, Sibi walked out into the field for a little nap.  When he sat beneath a tree and tried to fall asleep, a dove fell from the sky and into Sibi's lap.  Immediately, a hawk appeared in the lowest tree branch and told Sibi to hand over the dove.  Sibi, however, understood that such things happen for divine reasons, and he refuses to give the dove to the hawk, who insists that the dove is necessary to feed her children back at the nest.  Sibi refuses, and continues to offer protection to the little exhausted bird in his hand.  The hawk and Sibi argue round and round.

Sibi suggests that the hawk find another bird, but the sun is setting, and the hawk will not be able to find another meal until tomorrow ... when her children will be dead from starvation.  Sibi next offers any leftover food from the wedding, but the hawk cannot eat "people food," and thus refuses.  Finally, Sibi has only one remaining solution -- to offer the flesh of his own body to the hawk.  After the hawk agrees that this would be suitable, Sibi takes his knife and tears into his thigh, piling heaps of bloody flesh in front of the hawk.

Why does he do this?  Because both creatures are following their dharmas -- the hawk preys upon lesser birds, but Sibi offered it protection.  Since their dharmas are at cross-purposes, Sibi's solution was the only one available ... and the most painful sacrifice imaginable for him.  A moment later, the hawk changed shape into the god Indra, who informed Sibi that he has passed his test by following his dharma and sacrificing his own body for a lesser creature.  Sibi is then healed.  Could you rise to this occasion?

Obviously, in the real world, there is often great danger in providing assistance to every single individual who may ask for it.  If an escaped convict wearing prison orange were to knock on your door, would you invite this stranger inside to spend the night?  Most of us would probably not; however, this is the way that a god acts -- by following his/her prescribed duties for other people without any thought of the self.  This is one way to prove that we are not gods (yet!).  Life would be easier if we could transcend the material world and see people's inner thoughts. In the meanwhile, we are forced to choose to act in one of two ways: either as a god or as a monkey.

After the monkey army builds the bridge to Sri Lanka, the fight takes off, eventually culminating in several scenes where Rama and Ravana meet face-to-face.  On page 147, Ravana is spent, his head is cracked open (well, one of his heads, that is), and he has been disarmed.  That's when Rama offers Ravana mercy, suggesting that he rest and refresh himself for tomorrow's battle.  Why?  Would such a thing happen in today's warfare?

Notice that Rama attempts to give Ravana every opportunity to reconsider his evil ways.  Predictably, Ravana becomes even angrier and more determined, even though he has now been humiliated by Rama and is losing support of his fellow demons by the minute.  Ravana seems more worried about how this new twist in the battle may appear to others, but notice that this too is an illusion.  Ravana understands only the world of illusions and tricks, having no real substance underneath.

Eventually, Ravana is slain by Rama, who becomes the hero of the story by defeating this great force of chaos.  There is a slight controversy, however, when it is discovered that Ravana had a scar on the back of his neck.  Rama feared that he might have killed Ravana accidentally from behind, which would bring his shame, not glory.  The example that I used in class involved a fight on the playground.  If you can beat up the playground bully, who is stronger and more intimidating, then you become the victor and the glorified hero for defeating a stronger foe.  However, if we were to travel to the first grade playground and beat up the first graders, then what glory would we receive?  Rama does not kill Ravana without a fair and matched fight.  The Middle Ages knights would call this chivalry.

Just as all would seem to be well, Sita is returned to Rama, who shockingly casts her aside and tells her that she is now free from their marriage vows.  The problem here is that Sita's virtue is in question in the public's eyes.  Even though Rama knows that she has been faithful to him while she was kidnapped, the thousands of spectators do not.  Many may have been gossiping about Sita's potential love affairs with Ravana or his brothers, so she must prove her virtue.  She asks Lakshmana to build a funeral pyre, and she jumps into the burning logs.  Just then, the fire transforms into Agni, the God of Fire, who safely returns her into Rama's arms, having passed the test of virtue.  Rama and Sita will live happily ever after, and the country is returned to Rama's just rule.  Even Dasaratha gets to congratulate his son on a job well done.

The story ends when Rama is given his rightful seat on the throne.  He also gets to briefly speak with his dead father, who still holds a grudge against Kaikeyi and Bharatha, until Rama asks his father to forgive them.  Dasaratha may now slip into the next stage of his life -- moksha, which Dasaratha refers to as "dissolusion."  The story ends with the forces of preservation winning, but there will be an infinite number of battles still to come!

The Bhagavad-Gita

We only looked at The Bhagavad-Gita briefly, mainly to review a few concepts that can help us to understand the motivations for the characters in The Ramayana. The following summary explains this scriptural story in far greater detail than we had time to cover in class, and I provide it to assist you as you prepare for the final exam.

In order to best understand the Gita, we need to look at Krishna's advice in terms of the bigger picture -- the totality of the universe.  Westerners tend to dwell on smaller worlds and realms, ignoring the bigger, ultimate realities.  For instance, you probably know exactly how much gasoline is in your car right now, but are you aware of the people who have been born (and died) during the same time in which you pondered your car?  Life happens all around us, but we must be able to see beyond our own perspectives in order to comprehend that which is greater than us (according to Krishna).

The Bhagavad-Gita is written in 18 chapters, many of which are repetitive.  Your coursepacket provides excerpts from most of the chapters, which is at the core of the teaching.   In general, Lord Krishna teaches Arjuna that he must perform his duty without dwelling on his emotional attachment to his actions.  Let's explore his situation a little more ....

Arjuna is a warrior, and must fight according to his caste placement (as a warrior), much the same as Rama.  If he performs his duties well as a soldier, then he will have learned his lesson in this life and will be ready to assume the responsibilities of his next incarnation.  The trouble is that Arjuna faces a battle against his own cousins (as part of a long family feud over land ownership, dating back to an ancestor who gambled his rights away in The Mahabharatha).  Arjuna is riding in a chariot (a common model of warfare throughout the world at this time), and his charioteer (Krishna) offers him advice.  At first, Arjuna is unaware that Krishna is an incarnation of Vishnu, but by chapter 6 he accepts Krishna's form as real.  Arjuna fears this battle since he does not wish to inflict harm onto his family, but as a warrior, he knows that he must fight.  What should he do?

Let's remember that Krishna is the god Vishnu (the Preserver).  Vishnu descends to the Earth is many physical forms over the eons.  He will appear in 10 different avatars (or incarnations) before the end of this time.  So far, Vishnu has assumed an Earthly form nine times, with one to go.  The ones that pertain to us, however, include the following:

Vishnu's 7th incarnation: Rama
Vishnu's 8th incarnation: Krishna
Vishnu's 9th incarnation: Buddha

The coursepacket section  entitled "The Avatars of Vishnu" informs you of his other incarnations.  Each time, however, Vishnu comes down to Earth to protect and preserve humanity, with each incarnation revealing a more impressive human form.  If Arjuna fails to fight, then he will be shirking his dharma, meaning that the universe will be out of balance, leading to more pain and suffering in future generations.
 
The coursepacket analyzes an important triad in this story: "The Triad of Nature's Qualities."  In these later chapters of The Bhagavad-Gita, Krishna explains (very repetitively) that the soul can be found in one of three states: lucidity, passion, and dark inertia.  We have seen many examples of these states in The Ramayana, with Rama being a clear example of lucidity (most of the time), while Ravana represented a passion and a chaos (dark inertia) unlike any other.  The behaviors of these characters should indicate whether or not their souls were virtuous and noble.
 

Chapter I (Arjuna's Dejection)
Arjuna is a warrior who is about to enter the battle against his cousins and extended family members.  Of course, this causes him great distress, for obvious reasons.  He tells Arjuna that he feels "dejected" and filled with "strange pity."  He states that he does not "want to kill them even if I am killed."  Although this seems the proper perspective to own, Krishna knows otherwise.  He explains to Arjuna that his emotional attachment to his family is really a weakness, since attachment and passion are means of connecting yourself to the physical world, which is nothing more than an illusion (Maya).  To Krishna (whose name also means "Christ"), the real enemy is desire, which traps us into a world of tantalizing visions and emotions, ultimately taking us off course from our spiritual paths.

You should look at this battlefield as a metaphor for the battles that take place inside our own minds.  This story does take place on a physical field, but it is intended to be more of a battlefield of the mind.  As usual, everything is a metaphor.
 

Chapter II (Philosophy and Spiritual Discipline)
Krishna continues his counsel by reminding Arjuna about the ancient Hindu understanding about life, death, and rebirth.  Krishna explains that all creatures are never ending: "Neither have I existed, nor you, nor these kings; and never in the future shall we cease to exist."  Hindus often use the metaphor of changing clothes to represent the lives that we slip in and out of.  We appear different each day when we wear different clothes, yet our insides are the same.  We change lives as often as we change shirts (assuming that you do not have that many shirts!).

Krishna reminds Arjuna that everyone has been given unique talents and expectations (dharmas), so we must adhere to our calling without deviating from this course, regardless of our personal interests and desires.  We are not in this world to accomplish what we ourselves want, but rather to adhere to the universal script that we have been asked to follow.  Krishna says clearly: "If you fail to wage this war of sacred duty, you will abandon your own duty and fame only to gain evil [bad karma]."

Arjuna must learn to "Be intent on action, not the fruits [results] of action."  In other words, Arjuna must face his challenge as best a warrior can, without thinking about the results or repercussions.  Likewise, if anyone is worried about the test next week, you have not been listening to this unit's voices.  Why are you worried about the test?  Because you are worried about that which you cannot control -- your specific grade (the result or outcome of your actions).  Detach yourself from these anxieties and simply act.  Don't think to yourself, "I wonder if I got this answer right" while answering the test questions since this emotional worry will throw you off track.  Losing concentration will also make you more forgetful, making your anxieties into self-fulfilling prophesies.  For better or for worse, I like the Nike slogan: "Just do it."  With this mentality, there is no emotion, no attachment to the end result, and ultimately no distraction from your mission.

Also, Krishna indicates that these emotional roller coasters that we ride tend to get us nowhere (except a lower incarnation).  From desire we get anger, which leads to confusion, lost understanding, and a lack of discipline.  If we go down that road, we will not achieve joy, which is the goal of humans, according to many Hindu scriptures (including the Gita and The Upanishads). 
 

Chapter III (Discipline of Action)
Krishna teaches further that Arjuna's desires can be controlled through the practice of yoga (discipline).  By training yourself to "let go" of things emotionally, you can achieve a harmony and a balance that cannot be attained with emotions.  We cry after the passing of our loved ones, not because we loved them too much, but because we became too attached to them while they were here.  Even after they are gone we can still love them.  All of us are riding the wheel of life, and if we perform our specific actions correctly, we can achieve universal harmony and preservation.
 

Chapter VI (Yoga, or "Discipline")
Krishna explains the basic difference between a man and a god.  Essentially, if you think like a god, you can become one.  Act like a man, and you'll stay as a man.  Krishna advises Arjuna to perform his work without becoming attached to it.  We become what we are to ourselves.  Krishna advises Arjuna to detach himself from all Earthly sensations, and to react to each different emotion as if it were the same: pleasure and pain, hot and cold, good and evil, etc.  Vishnu treats all of these forces equally, so why should man?

Krishna advises Arjuna not to judge anything, since man is inherently biased in favor of one part of a duality over another.  For example, we want good to conquer evil, so we hate evil.  Yet Rama allowed Vali (acting like a demon) to become glorified like a god, he allowed Vibishana to enter Rama's army (even though Vibishana was a brother of Ravana, the great demon), and Rama allows Ravana a chance to raise himself up rather than to go in for the easy kill.  As you can see, Vishnu has a history of treating gods, demons, people, and animals in a similar way.

Krishna advises that only a tranquil spirit can understand the mysteries of the universe.  He explains that a person's soul should be as a controlled flame inside a gas lantern.  The flame is shielded by the glass encasing, keeping the stiff breezes and rain out of the lamp's path.  The wind might be blowing chaotically, but the flame will remain intact.  Thus should one's soul be.

Even though Arjuna argues against Krishna, claiming that he is a mere human being who is locked into this world of sensations, Krishna cheers him on, explaining that even small victories and gains along the way will work favorably into one's next incarnation.  Arjuna fears that he must go into this battle perfectly, but Krishna simply asks him to perform his duties to the very best of his abilities.  Whether he wins or loses is not the issue -- it's how one plays the game!
 

Chapter VII (Knowledge and Judgment)
Krishna tells Arjuna that if he follows him in this advice, then Arjuna will be able to see and know everything, through Vishnu.  Krishna explains that few people get to see the world as Vishnu does -- as an undivided set of dualities.  He continues to explain that he (Vishnu) is everything, and that everything emanates from his issue.  Apparently, only one in a million may be able to comprehend Vishnu, so if you don't get it, that's okay ... neither does Arjuna.  Krishna explains that all paths lead to heaven, but those people who weep, yearn, toil, or meditate will find Vishnu first.  Krishna than complains that many people worship false idols of Vishnu, but that people become bewildered because they understand the world only in this set of opposites.  If you can transcend the dualities, you will be able to know God, since God (Vishnu) does not live as a duality, but rather the unification of dualities.

These dualities force us into making judgmental decisions about whether or not we like or dislike something. We see a new face on campus, and immediately we place this person into a dualistic category (pretty, datable, "my type," etc.).  Yet this further sets our feet in the concrete of passion, since we become further attached to the world.  Could we treat our worst enemies the same as we treat our best friends?  If we did, we would transcend these dualities and admire the god inside every person.  Many people might consider the midpoint between these dualities as "indifference," but the Hindus might look at the middle as "nondifference," suggesting that we should look beyond the obvious differences, not merely ignore them.
 

Chapter VIII (The Infinite Spirit)
Arjuna wonders how he will be able to find Vishnu in order to understand him.  Krishna explains that he is everything, so God will be found everywhere (look no further!).  Dozens of examples are listed of Krishna's various forms, but we will never fully understand these until after we die.  Krishna also explains that by performing proper meditation (using the syllable OM, the "breath of the universe"), we can connect with the primordial creative force of Vishnu.  The Easterners will often spell OM as AUM, identifying the three sounds as representatives of the Hindu Triad of Gods: Brahma (The Creator), Vishnu (The Preserver), and Shiva (The Destroyer).  The forces all work together to reflect the cycles of life and death -- the voice is born, preserved, and ended.  The pause between the syllables represents the blank slate from which Brahma begins to create anew.

Notice that Vishnu assumes the roles of the other two gods in the Triad.  That occurs because all three gods act in conjunction with each other, and each can perform reflexive roles in the cosmos.  For instance, Shiva may cause destruction, but only so that Brahma can again bear new life for Vishnu to preserve.  On and on and on.  Krishna tells us that life is pain and suffering without this escape from the life cycle.  No matter how much we love someone or something, the day will come when the love turns into tears or mourning.  It cannot be escaped, except through moksha.
 

Chapter IX (The Sublime Mystery)
Krishna continues his teaching by explaining that the unfaithful must continue to be reincarnated.  Even Vishnu claims to be disconnected from his creation.  I explained this concept much like parents having to let go of their children once the kids grow up.  The parents still love their children, but they must learn to trust them and to not worry about them when they don't come home on time.  What will the worrying solve?  Nothing!  Being detached does not mean that we must forego our love of something, but we must be aware that all pleasure and pain are understood as one emotion by Krishna.  There is no distinction between pleasure and pain for Vishnu, who is everything.  Which child does a parent love more?  What a silly question!  Both are loved equally.  Therefore, if Vishnu created both pleasure and pain, he will see them on equal footing as well.

I often ask if anyone in class ever had the experience of arriving home after your curfew, only to find your mom or dad waiting up to greet you at the door.  With anger on her face she disciplined you and badgered you with questions about your whereabouts.  They might have said to you, "I was so worried about you that I couldn't sleep!"  This may be true, but would your safety been different had your parents been sleeping soundly?  If you were unaware of your parents' actions, then how would the fact that they slept or stayed awake waiting for you have changed your behavior?  It wouldn't.  If something happened to you, your parents would have received a phone call from the authorities, and they would have answered the phone regardless of their state of alertness or sleep.  Really, they just wanted to protect you long after their protective control lost its luster.  This is why the older children are treated more severely, while the younger siblings often get away with murder (metaphorically, of course).

Fundamentally, Krishna tells Arjuna that the visible life and the invisible one are one in the same.  Krishna calls these realms SAT and ASAT (reality and nonreality, respectively).  Have you ever awoken from a dream, but you didn't know whether or not that dream was real?  That blurring of realities is one way that we can transcend this world.  Of course, we must do so with lucidity, not dark inertia.  In other words, when Sugreeva woke up drunk in his palace, he might not have realized exactly where he was or what reality he was participating in.  This is not lucid thinking, so Sugreeva did not understand what Vishnu does.
 

Chapter X (Fragments of Divine Power)
This chapter is rather redundant, as is most of this poem throughout.  Krishna reiterates that he is everything, and proceeds to list his various connections to the world.  Since Vishnu is everything, he is also death and destruction too.  He claims to be "the beginning, middle, and end of all things," and the manifestation of time itself.  When Arjuna is allowed to see the totality of Krishna's essence, he can't handle the truth.
 

Chapter XI (The Vision of Krishna's Totality)
This is a magical scene.  Arjuna pleads that he cannot fully understand this complicated message without first experiencing what it is like to see with Vishnu's eyes.  He asks Krishna to remove his human disguise and to show Arjuna Vishnu's real form.  Krishna accepts, and when he removes his human mask, suddenly he becomes too much for Arjuna to comprehend.  Imagine seeing every sight, hearing every sound, smelling every smell, etc., all at the same time.  We couldn't do it, since our minds are too limited (we have those "monkey minds," as explained by Sugreeva in The Ramayana).  Krishna allows Arjuna to see the totality of the cosmos by using Vishnu's Divine Eye, which is a similar idea to the divine eye that Horus gave to his father Osiris.  (As you would expect, these stories are all connected and share themes and imagery).

Arjuna claims that he now sees and understands everything in the bigger picture.  He now understands that his duty as a warrior is but one small piece of the cosmic puzzle.  If Arjuna goes into battle and kills a hundred relatives, he now realizes that he himself is not killing his family, but rather slaying their physical bodies.  Their souls will live on, and if they all fight gloriously on the battlefield, then they all will live on in a grander form in their next life.  Originally, Arjuna was worried that he might be committing a sin, but now he realizes that not performing his duties is the real sin.  In the end, he decides to ride into battle and perform his duties without anxiety.

One example that I often use pertains to the S.A.T.  If you took the test five times, for example, then you probably did better the fifth time than you did during the first.  You were probably very nervous the first time, and anxious about your score.  Yet, by the fifth time, you did not really dwell on the outcomes that you could not control.  Rather, you just took the test.  Another example illustrates a basketball player standing at the free throw line.  If the game is on the line, and you must make the shot to determine victory or defeat for your team, that's a lot of pressure to place upon yourself.  Instead of sweating over the potential missed shot, Krishna would tell you to clear your mind and focus only on the task at hand -- shooting the ball.  Whether or not the ball drops through the basket is not the point.  The fact is that you played your part and did your job as best you could.  Even if you lose the game, haven't you still won?  You must have learned from this experience or grown in some other way.  It's how you play the game!  Therefore, if this reading still does not make sense to you, it's okay!  You have played the game and you are a better person for it.

Could you relate this to your final exams coming up?  What causes all of this stress?  Not so much the tests or the preparation, but the unsuredness that you are going to be able to achieve your goals.  We get so stressed because we are worried about the outcomes, the fruits of the action, rather than focusing on the task at hand.  Studies show that students perform better on tests when they are less nervous about the outcomes.  If your goal is to achieve a 4.0, and you make all A's during your first semester, then you certainly will be satisfied with the initial results.  However, with each passing term, you place more pressure on yourself to attain your levels of excellence, which merely adds more stress to the situation.  These are artificial goals anyway, and the world will not be a better place just because you received a certain grade on a test or in a class.  In fact, I often recall the story that I never even opened my final report card from high school.  I knew that I had been accepted to college, and I received my diploma, so I had no curiosity to see the damage that I caused by prioritizing work at my job over my studies.  In the end, it didn't matter.  And it still doesn't.  Detach yourself from the passions and traps of the world!  In fact, I challenged everyone to NOT check your final grades after the semester is over.  The fact that you earn a certain grade does not change the fact that you learned something and are a better person for it!  Checking your grades will only result in some kind of emotional reaction, including disappointment.
 

Chapters 14-18 of The Gita show Krishna explaining to Arjuna that it's not whether you win or lose, but how you play the game.  True, winning does matter, but the short-term victories that are locked into this world do not really matter in the totality of the cosmos.  I sometimes tell the stories of my father, an avid deer hunter, who takes two weeks each year to hunt in northern Michigan.  However, in over 40 years of hunting, he does not have any big racks of antlers to display on the walls of his den.  To some, my dad must be considered a bad hunter since he doesn't ever seem to catch one.  In reality, he is extremely selective, passing up younger bucks each year in hopes that he will one day land "the big one."  He doesn't need the prize on the wall to tell the story of his experiences or the joy that he derives from outdoor activities.  Remember, it's not the exterior that matters (since it is of the flesh, of this material world), but the inside.

Conversely, many of my dad's friends have rooms filled with trophies and antlers, but does this display really reflect their hunting prowess?  Is your best friend someone who is the best looking, or someone whose heart and soul you can depend on?  Krishna explains in dozens of ways that the fruits of your actions are tied to this world.  If we wish to pass on to a better world, then we need to look beyond this one (the material world of dualities) and focus on a loftier goal, setting aside our petty victories and legacies.  Yes, Gilgamesh would have had to learn this lesson as well.  Instead of pursuing spiritual endeavors after his search for immortality, Gilgamesh instead reflected on his labors and his contributions to Uruk.  Important?  Yes.  Godly?  No.
 

Chapter XIV (The Triad of Nature's Qualities)
Krishna explains several interpretations of these triad qualities of nature.   He discusses how one becomes reincarnated depending on his or her quality: the lucid move upward, the darkly inert fall down, and the passionate stay the same.  Since "suffering is the fruit of passion," we must strive for a lucid understanding of the world, lest we be forced to live our lives again and again, suffering continually between bouts of temporal joy.
 

Chapter XVI (The Divine and the Demonic in Man)
On the right side of the first page of text, Krishna explains the several qualities of people who behave in upright ways, as well as those who do not.  Notice that these virtues are not necessarily Hindu.  Confucianism discusses the attainment of the position of the Superior Man, which mirror these virtues very closely.  In fact, all religions that I know of promote these same positive qualities and behaviors: truth, gentleness, patience, self-control, purity, etc.  These are universal ideals that are represented in thousands of different ways.
 

Chapter XVII (The Three Aspects of Faith)
Krishna even goes so far as to recognize different qualities in the foods that we eat.  Try to name some foods that would pertain to these three qualities.  Food for the lucid is fresh and life-giving, such as fresh fruits and vegetables.  Passionate food is tangy, sour, and vibrant, providing an immediate emotional reaction (I think of sourball candies).  Food for the darkly inert might be rotten food found in the back of your refrigerator (or the eclair that George Kostanza found in one of the Seinfeld episodes: George found an untouched donut in the garbage at a party, so he ate it; when Jerry Seinfeld approached him and asked what he was doing, Kostanza made some lame excuse, prompting Jerry to reply, "Adjacent to refuse IS refuse."  Perhaps you have evoked the "five-second rule" when food falls to the floor?  If so, I have two words for you: dark inertia.

Another part discerns the different ways that people give charity.  Those who give with no attachment to getting something in return are lucid.  Those who seek repayment are passionate.  Those who give charity to those who need it least are darkly inert. 
 

Chapter XVIII (The Wondrous Dialogue Concludes)
This last section of the reading summarizes the main points well.  The last four paragraphs are especially enlightening, and can be summarized this way: right and wrong are not absolute, but decided according to the categories of social rank, kinship, and stage of life.  Detach yourself from the fruits of your actions, which can be accomplished through discipline, clear thinking, and meditation.  This will lead to joy.

Announcements:

I have linked a page that summarizes the main parts of Hermann Hesse's novel Siddhartha, a story of a man whose life parallels the Buddha's. You are not required to read this story, but because it was on the original syllabus, I have offered you some notes to assist you. This story can help provide some further insights into Buddhism, so if you are familiar with this story, it couldn't hurt to look this over. Again, however, this title has been dropped and I will not ask any questions about it.

The Final Exam Study Guide is now available.

I will also hold extended office hours on April 24-28. These are open-door hours, so just stop by (no appointments necessary). Please knock on my door if I am working with another student. I will be mostly unavailable during the exam week due to personal appointments, so I recommend seeing me as soon as possible if you need some extra help.

The KSU final exam schedule is also available, so check your calendars for your exam times. Remember that exams are schedules for two hours, so you will be arriving and leaving your exams at slightly different times than usual.

Wednesday 3 May 2006:

Final Exam

COLOR CODES:
		-= Required		-= Supplemental