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S22 Bhagavad Gita Project
Cross-Class Blog, Spring 2022 USCB IDST
Nettles, J.; Patrick, L., Meyer, B., Patrick, A.; Safouan, O., Howerton, P. & Johnson, R.
26 responses to “Nettles, J.; Patrick, L., Meyer, B., Patrick, A.; Safouan, O., Howerton, P. & Johnson, R.”
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Dear Readers,
This is Olayah and I am a senior psychology major. After reading through the Bhagavad Gita one concept that resonated with me was shraddah that is similar to faith that we see in our culture. According to Eknath Easwaran, it is something that is placed in our hearts. It is our core values, beliefs, and prejudices that drive our day-to-day life. It is the idea that what lies in our hearts is what helps us make decisions, thoughts, and actions. I think no matter the religion, spirituality, or none that you follow we all have some sort of shraddah that drives us whether we realize it or not. Without that concept we would simply turn to chaos. I know personally I do have a set of beliefs, values, and prepossessions that lie in my heart that pushes me to do or not to do things. For example, I believe that everyone should be loved and to love your neighbor like yourself no matter if they have wronged you or not. That being said, even if I didn’t know that to its entirety, that will still reshape my rose-colored glasses. That made me to look within to see some of the other core values that I have.
Love,
OlayahResource:
Easwaran, E. (1985). The Bhagavad Gita. The Blue Mountain Center of Meditation.LikeLike
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Good evening,
My name is Robert (most know me as Bobby), and I’m a Junior with a major in Psychology. Throughout my reading of the Bhagavad Gita’s first few chapters, the concepts that have stuck out to me are the concepts of dharma and karma. Dharma intrigues me because, on the surface, the principle is simple. As the book states, “dharma implies support from within: the essence of a thing, its virtue, that which makes it what it is,” (Easwaran, 1985). So, dharma is just what makes someone the someone they are. Taking a second to delve into this concept exposes how complicated of a question it really is. What intrinsic values and characteristics really make up a person? Furthermore, what intrinsic values and characteristics make up me? While this word has become a new punchline within my household, it is a question I’ve been trying to answer for myself. I’m finding that, like an onion, the answer has many layers of questions within itself, and the answers to those questions have layers as well. Moving on, the concept of karma is one that everyone is familiar with. However, I didn’t think that the concept of karma I held was different than what the book explains, if only slightly. My “karma” simply involved the short-term, rarely going past instant karma. The books “karma” involves one’s entire life and choices, its rules and lessons relating closely to that of the “Butterfly Effect.” I don’t find faith in any traditional religion, but this interpretation of karma is something I’ve always found faith in, even if I hadn’t had a name for it before this moment.
Something else that also sticks out to me within the book is how it presents the physical body as simply a vessel for the soul, or any living thing for that matter. While I don’t subscribe to the notion that believing in this can allow one to say that life “doesn’t matter,” I do subscribe to the concept of animism, the belief that everything has a soul, and that soul continues on past the item’s life. I used to think I was alone/odd in this belief and the extent to which I believed it, but this book has exposed to me that I am not alone, which is nice.
Sincerly,
Bobby J.Reference
Easwaran, E. (1985). The Bhagavad Gita. The Blue Mountain Center of Meditation.LikeLike
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Hello Bobby,
My name is Adrianna Martin and I chose your post to respond to because I found that it was one of the most interesting. You provided a lot of information including definitions and explanations of dharma and karma. Along with that you asked questions and related it to the book speaking of long term effects and results of life choices. I think overall you did really well and I hope that your semester goes well!
Sincerely,
Adrianna MartinLikeLike
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Dear Readers,
Hi, this is Anna Patrick (war group 3), I am a senior interdisciplinary study major with a minor in education. I found that reading “The Bhagavad Gita” From chapter 7 caught my attention on page 148, ”Knowledge contrasted with ignorance, transcendent reality as opposed to the phenomenal world”. The title gives a little insight into the chapter about the yoga of wisdom and realization. What I took from this chapter is that yoga brings forward the realization aspect to the world you surround yourself in. When talking about jnana and that being the highest kind of knowledge with god and spiritual wisdom I found this to be very powerful to incorporate. I believe there is a higher power and when people can be so open with themselves to relate relaxation and growth. I have grown to see that ignorance is bliss but things take time and having a better mindset is helpful. I see yoga as a very useful tool for that journey to reach a certain goal for yourself.
Resource:
Eknath, E. (2007). The Bhagavad Gita. Nilgiri Press.LikeLike
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Good evening, everyone!
My name is Jennifer. I’m a senior and an Interdisciplinary Studies major who is using the wonderful opportunity that this major affords me to finish up prerequisite courses for medical school and to branch out and explore other interesting topics.
One thing that I found interesting in the readings was that, in some ways, this seems to be a more kind and forgiving religion, in that you still reap what you sow (karma) but people tend to be reincarnated and given more than one chance at life. There’s a particular point early in the readings that caught my attention. This is where Arjuna asks Krishna if anyone who has faith but who is not able to perfectly follow the path might be lost forever, and Krishna’s reply is, “Arjuna, my son, such a person will not be destroyed. No one who does good work will ever come to a bad end, either here or in the world to come (Easwaran 144). Such a person would die, live among the righteous, and be reborn and improve upon themselves (Easwaran 144). There is even a mention of the individual even being given the opportunity to be reborn to a family who specifically may aid in helping to improve the area of the person’s shortcomings (Easwaran 145).
As an advocate for those among us who have led less than perfect lives in the past but still have potential, I see this, symbolically, as a description of a good rehabilitative process. In an individual’s past, they might not have lived up to society’s expectations. In a more perfect world, they would then be sent to a place where they could be surrounded by positive influences and the guidance they’d need to move past their transgressions. Later, they would be offered a nurturing, ideal environment to build upon their skills and grow as an individual. The whole idea here isn’t isolation and shunning, and instead, is all about offering a path to positive reintegration and personal growth. I love that.
Thanks for taking the time to read my post! I look forward to reading yours as well. 😊
Sincerely,
Jennifer E. Nettles, B331
Works Cited
Easwaran, Eknath. The Bhagavad Gita. Nilgiri Press, 2007.LikeLike
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Dear Readers,
Hi, this is Anna Patrick (war group 3), I am a senior interdisciplinary study major with a minor in education. I found that reading “The Bhagavad Gita” was very interesting, from chapter 7 caught my attention on page 148, ”Knowledge contrasted with ignorance, transcendent reality as opposed to the phenomenal world”. The title gives a little insight into the chapter about the yoga of wisdom and realization. What I took from this chapter is that yoga brings forward the realization aspect to the world you surround yourself in. When talking about jnana and that being the highest kind of knowledge with god and spiritual wisdom I found this to be very powerful to incorporate. I believe there is a higher power and when people can be so open with themselves to relate relaxation and growth. I have grown to see that ignorance is bliss but things take time and having a better mindset is helpful. I see yoga as a very useful tool for that journey to reach a certain goal for yourself.
Resource:
Eknath, E. (2007). The Bhagavad Gita. Nilgiri Press.LikeLike
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Hello everyone,
My name is Laura and I am a senior at USCB majoring in Secondary Education-English. Something that stood out to me was on page 86 in Chapter 2 which discusses the self-realized man or woman and presents the word “kama” to correlate. The chapter explains that kama is personal satisfaction and when we succumb to this it “draws us away from the core of our being, the self”, (pg. 86). Being established in Self-realization means that we control our senses and when we are not in control of them, Krishna warns, the mind (or our emotions) will take control. When the mind begins to take control we lose sense of direction and fall back to being led by personal satisfaction. To me, this is logical. Letting your emotions get the best of you is undoubtedly a negative impact to ourselves. Letting your desires make decisions for you will have the same negative outcomes; it is up to us to be established enough in ourselves that we avoid letting our emotions direct our lives.
Best,
Laura P.Reference
Easwaran, E. (1985). The Bhagavad Gita. The Blue Mountain Center of Meditation.LikeLike
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Hello all!
I am a nontraditional student in my junior year, majoring in Interdisciplinary Studies. I am particularly interested in sociology and medical humanities.
A part of the text that stood out to me was Krishna explaining to Arjuna the importance of living a life that involves completing actions for the sake of the greater good, not because he hopes to gain a particular result from the action. In chapter three, verse 19, Krishna says to Arjuna “Strive constantly to serve the welfare of the world; by devotion to selfless work one attains the supreme goal of life. Do your work with the welfare of others always in mind. It was by such work that Janaka attained perfection; others too have followed this path.”, this message is repeated throughout. I understand this message and it seems simple, but then some of the text is not aligned with this message. For instance, the opening chapter when Krishna is preparing him for war. How is war living a life where you are serving the welfare of the world, but then again in the setting maybe it is. And, if you are striving to complete actions without a goal to obtain the perfect state of supreme peace, isn’t that a goal in and of itself? I don’t know that we as humans can ever live a life where we complete actions without them being done in the hopes of attaining an outcome that pleases us, even if that pleasure is seeing peace and happiness in those around us. I feel like I am thinking too much about the message of “action in inaction” so I would love to hear your thoughts.Best,
Amy Howerton, IDSTB320LikeLike
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Works Cited
Eknath, Easwaran. The Bhagavad Gita. Nilgiri Press, 2019.LikeLike
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Hello everyone!!!!
I am Brian Meyer (war 3); I am a junior here at USCB majoring as an Interdisciplinary Studies major. I also play baseball here and had a game yesterday, so I apologize for the late response. But I am excited to be in a group with you all and to communicate with you in the near future.
While reading through The Bhagavad Gita, a piece that stuck out to me was when Arjuna was being told about fighting battles and how honorable it is to take these challenges on. “The story of your dishonor will be repeated endlessly: and for a man of honor, dishonor is worse than death. These brave warriors will think you have withdrawn from battle out of fear, and those who formerly esteemed you will treat you with disrespect.” (pg. 92 This resonates with me on a personal level, for instance, when it seems like nothing is going my way or if I am faced with an inconvenient predicament, it reminds me that it is a test of my character and to always push through any trial happening in my life. Everyone faces adversity, but it’s about how one overcomes, conquers, and grows from any wall that tries to slow you down on your path. It was neat to compare something from this time period to present day.
Thank you all,
Brian MeyerLikeLike
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Jennifer Nettles Post 2:
Hi, everyone!
I had a chance to read over several of the comments that were made within our group, and while I appreciate everyone’s post, for the sake of brevity, I’ve chosen to comment on two.
First, I wanted to mention Amy Howerton’s post. I really appreciated how she took the time to comment on one part of the text and note that it seems to be counter to the message that is shared elsewhere within the same story. Also, I enjoyed how she spoke about the quote regarding selfless work because it made my mind jump to thinking of discussions that I’ve read where people have debated over whether acts of altruism are ever really selfless.
Second, I liked the dialogue that Brian Meyer brought up. Brian interpreted it a different way than I did, and I appreciate the way that he connected with this quote, but to me, it promotes ego, self-centeredness, and making decisions based solely on what others might think of us and what we accomplish.
Thank you for taking the time to read my second post! Let me know what you think of my thoughts and interpretations. 😊
Sincerely,
Jennifer E. Nettles, B331
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Hi Friends,
I loved reading each and every one of your posts. Everyone commented on different topics which help me understand and expand my view of what Easwaran was communicating. When reading, the first concept that stuck out to me was when Ms. Nettles talked about expectations. I think that the book refers to future lives being able to grow as a person and move past their faults. But as we are all living now, we can take this concept of kindness and forgiveness and apply it to our lives every day and not wait until another life to apply those qualities. I choose personally to make an effort to apply these qualities every day! I think it is important because everyone makes mistakes, everyone has those days that we are just not thinking straight, or a lot of things happen at ones, and we cannot handle it. So, when you are having a good day and someone who might be having a bad day wrongs you in any way think about when you had a bad day and show them grace and kindness.
As I continued reading another concept that was written by Ms. Laura which self-realization. I think Krishna makes a good point that depending on which area we decide to use to make choices can be both negative and positive. Laura mentioned that when we use our emotions, they get the best of us. I think that if we use either our emotions or head there are both pros and cons to each. I usually make decisions using my emotions. I think if you are aware of what is driving your decisions, you are able to make reasonable and rational decisions. Like anger and love are the two end of emotions that are harder for us to control. Other emotions like patience, and determination are other emotions that are easier to control.
Love,
Olayah SafouanLikeLike
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Post #2
Hello group members and otherwise,Reading through my peer’s blog posts about the book surprisingly helped me understand the text and how to interpret the text a lot better. The very first thing I learned was from Anna’s post, and that was that we weren’t restricted to talking about the first five chapters. I thought that we were going chapter by chapter, not just reading the book and finishing it soon. Another thing from Anna’s post I found worth noting was when she said “I have grown to see that ignorance is bliss but things take time and having a better mindset is helpful,” which spork to me because it aligns with how I attempt to view the world. There are things I will never know, beliefs I will never understand, people I will never relate to. However, as long as I keep an open and curious mindset about it, being ignorant of what I do not know won’t hurt me if these topics ever come into the conversation. Moving on, something I very much agreed with was Jennifer’s take on the religion of Hinduism, that being that it “seems to be a more kind and forgiving religion.” I’m not a religious person, but Hinduism always strikes me as a religion I could get into if I was held at gunpoint.
Sincerely,
BobbyLikeLike
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Hello group members and otherwise,
Reading through my peer’s blog posts about the book surprisingly helped me understand the text and how to interpret the text a lot better. The very first thing I learned was from Anna’s post, and that was that we weren’t restricted to talking about the first five chapters. I thought that we were going chapter by chapter, not just reading the book and finishing it soon. Another thing from Anna’s post I found worth noting was when she said “I have grown to see that ignorance is bliss but things take time and having a better mindset is helpful,” which spork to me because it aligns with how I attempt to view the world. There are things I will never know, beliefs I will never understand, people I will never relate to. However, as long as I keep an open and curious mindset about it, being ignorant of what I do not know won’t hurt me if these topics ever come into the conversation. Moving on, something I very much agreed with was Jennifer’s take on the religion of Hinduism, that being that it “seems to be a more kind and forgiving religion.” I’m not a religious person, but Hinduism always strikes me as a religion I could get into if I was held at gunpoint.
Sincerely,
BobbyLikeLike
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Hello all!
I would like to start by saying I am so impressed by all of your responses. There are so many of you I could refer to in my response but I’d like to bring up something that Bobby mentioned in his. Like Bobby, I also was intrigued by the dharma/karma concept. However, I couldn’t quite wrap my mind around the dharma concept as much as karma. Bobby explain that dharma is essentially what makes someone who they are. He also referred to it as an onion, something that has many layers. Moving on, I’m sure we’ve all heard the comment “What goes around comes back around”, when talking about karma but Bobby connects it to The Butterfly Effect which explains that all of our choices make up the lives we live, no matter how big or small. This has made me think of karma in a new light. Instead of karma being a punishment for when you make a negatively impacting decision, it is the essence in which you live in that has been decided by all of your prior decisions.
Continuing reading brought me to Amy’s post. Amy discusses Krishna’s explanation of the importance of living life completing actions for the greater good and not completing them to gain a particular result. Like, Amy, I began to question the logistics of this a little bit. I also wondered why it would be such a bad thing to complete actions in hope of reaching a desired goal or result. After giving it a bit more thought I think that Krishna is referring to selflessness in a much lighter way than how we were thinking about this at first, but maybe not. I was thinking that what Krishna means is that we should be selfless in all that we do, that isn’t to say we can’t enjoy the result of what we’ve done. Amy refers to the pleasure we feel when seeing peace and happiness in those around us; I think that it is fine to enjoy others happiness when it is you who made them happy or joyful, but, if we were to do a good thing for someone because we know it would make ourselves feel good, then that is what makes that action no longer for the sake of the greater good.
Best wishes,
LauraLikeLike
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Hi everyone!! I loved reading all of your posts about the book. I really loved how we all interpreted different parts of the book and were able to explain our own feelings towards it. This book has so much potential to reach many people and teach different lessons. The butterfly effect that Bobby discussed really stuck out to me, I also just really love butterfly’s. But besides that with that relation to the book it talks about life decisions we make and how that pans out our lives. I believe everything happens for a reason and karma is real but I know some people are skeptical. The next person that caught my eye was Jennifers post and how she talked about Hinduism, that was something I didn’t know much about. From what I gathered it is a very forgiving religion and I find that to be very inspiring when it comes to religions. Overall, I really enjoyed all the posts made about the book and how everyone picked their own outtakes from the book.
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Everyone, Hello! (:
I have had a look at everyone’s post, it is neat to see everyone’s thoughts and how you all have compared The Bhagavad Gita to your daily lives to be able to learn and grow from that. One post I would like to touch off of is Anna Leigh Patrick view of how yoga and a quote from chapter 7 were compatible. I like how you compared and you have quoted, “What I took from this chapter is that yoga brings forward the realization aspect to the world you surround yourself in.” I find it powerful that you were able to have that realization in life from that quote.
The other post that caught my attention was when Jennifer Nettles spoke on the quote “if anyone who has faith but who is not able to perfectly follow the path might be lost forever”. I connected with this personally in a sense of my faith and my religion. As a christian, I sometime catch myself veering off in the wrong track or not praying daily to the Lord, our savior. Yes time is limited, yes we are all busy, but there is always time to love and praise the Lord and that quote really spoke to myself in a sense of my spiritual faith!I continue to look forward to cooperating with this group as we continue to work together for each other as a whole,
Good Day!LikeLike
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Hello everyone!
I first want to say how thoroughly I enjoyed reading all your thoughts on the reading, there were so many meaningful reflections on the book and that really helped me to see it more clearly.
One post that I would like to point out was Olayah’s where she wrote when discussing shraddah “It is our core values, beliefs, and prejudices that drive our day-to-day life. It is the idea that what lies in our hearts is what helps us make decisions, thoughts, and actions. I think no matter the religion, spirituality, or none that you follow we all have some sort of shraddah that drives us whether we realize it or not. Without that concept we would simply turn to chaos.”, this made better understand the concept of shraddah.
Another post I would like to discuss further was Brian, where he writes about Krishna telling Arjuna the Importance of maintaining his honor by not withdrawing from battle and how he relates this point to his own life. Brian writes, relating to this concept that on the surface seems to be removed from modern times, “Everyone faces adversity, but it’s about how one overcomes, conquers, and grows from any wall that tries to slow you down on your path.”, which I found quite insightful.
I also found Jennifer’s piece about the more forgiving ideas found in the text and how she relates the importance of second chances to our society. I loved how she understood this concept as she wrote “symbolically, as a description of a good rehabilitative process.” and writing “The whole idea here isn’t isolation and shunning, and instead, is all about offering a path to positive reintegration and personal growth.”. This was very eye opening to me and allows me to have a much better understanding of some of the key concepts.
I look forward to further discussions with you all!Sincerely,
AmyLikeLike
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Aloha Friends,
First of all, I think everyone is doing great! Everyone’s second post expanded on everyone else’s, which is amazing. Everyone is helping each other understand as well as elaborating their own though onto it.
For this post I would like to point out Laura’s second comment. I agree with the fact that Karma was easier to understand for me and dharma was a bit harder. I look at it as we all have a reality and a certain way of doing things. So we all have rights and wrongs in our own lives but there is a overlying law of right and wrong that drives the whole universe and everyone’s behavior. That is what keeps everything in order and not one big ball of chaos.
Another point I would like to make is Anna’s post. She touched how Jennifer said that Hinduism was a forgiving religion. I also agree based on its practices and beliefs. I would say that many if not all religions—at the core—are forgiving religions. However, I would say that Hinduism may be the best at practicing that and showing it on a daily basis.
I love music so I decided to look up a song/tune for this letter. I grew up in two different cultures and religions so hearing these song/prayers were really fascinating. The verse that I listened to was the Bhagavad Gita 2.20. The verse explained how the soul was never born, died, once existed, or cease. It is also not destroyed once our bodies are destroyed. This concept of our souls continuing to live is in many religions and cultures. The only differences between this culture/religion and others is what happens to the souls after. Does it get reborn, go to Heaven, Hell, or Nirvana. No matter how different we all believe that we are, we are more alike than we will ever know.
Love,
OlayahResource:
Mukundananda, S. (2014). Chapter 2, verse 20 – bhagavad gita, the song of god – swami mukundananda. Chapter 2, Verse 20 – Bhagavad Gita, The Song of God – Swami Mukundananda. Retrieved January 31, 2022, from https://www.holy-bhagavad-gita.org/chapter/2/verse/20LikeLike
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Jennifer Nettles Post 3:
Hi, everyone!
First, I wanted to mention Amy Howerton’s post. I liked how she included an excerpt from Olayah’s previous post that mentioned the concept of Shraddha and how we all, whether or not we are aware, have these “core values, beliefs, and prejudices” that we act upon. From life experience, it seems like the easiest way to become more aware of these core parts of who we are is to place ourselves into settings and scenarios that are counter to what we believe is most important to us or is the opposite of what you feel most comfortable with.
Second, I liked Anna Leigh Patrick’s post and how she mentioned that everyone has come up with their own interpretation of different parts of the book. I think that’s a fairly common occurrence when studying religious texts.
The item that I link with the Bhagavad Gita is the image of a counselor. Please find the link below my signature. I chose this image because the way I see it, Krishna was acting as a counselor to help Arjuna through a difficult time for him.
Thank you for taking the time to read my third post!
Sincerely,
Jennifer E. Nettles, B331
Image cited:
https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fcareersinpsychology.org%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2014%2F05%2FCounselor-Work.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fcareersinpsychology.org%2Ftop-places-work-counselor%2F&tbnid=FArgnuvC3ZrDzM&vet=12ahUKEwiGqoW31_D1AhVDwykDHbSeBmcQMygCegUIARDZAQ..i&docid=I1IWrzHhGh8fAM&w=4288&h=2848&q=counselor&ved=2ahUKEwiGqoW31_D1AhVDwykDHbSeBmcQMygCegUIARDZAQ
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THIRD REPLY
Dear Group and others,Reading through the various posts in this forum was extremely interesting and honestly a bit comforting. It’s nice to know that there’s a solid group of people capable of deep thought. One idea I found compelling was Olayah’s ideas on how one can approach the fact that one’s choices in this life can affect their next. As she puts it, “we can take this concept of kindness and forgiveness and apply it to our lives every day and not wait until another life to apply those qualities,” (Safouan, 2022). This actually connects well with a reply from outside of our group by Mr. Timothy Rogers, who brings up that we must value the limited time we have in this life. Making good choices and living a morally-good life will (usually) lead to greater happiness. This would allow us to enjoy the good times more often, and give us the ability to glean everything we can from this life.
Part Two: My Representation of the Bhagavad Gita: A Foliage of infinity https://www.google.com/search?q=foliage+making+an+infinity+sign&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwjTg6Phq_H1AhVDZ98KHZkXB2UQ2-cCegQIABAA&oq=foliage+making+an+infinity+sign&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQA1CfA1j1E2DyFWgAcAB4AIABdogB_QSSAQM4LjGYAQCgAQGqAQtnd3Mtd2l6LWltZ8ABAQ&sclient=img&ei=sQcDYpPnMMPO_QaZr5yoBg&bih=746&biw=1309&rlz=1C5CHFA_enUS812US812#imgrc=hjVN1MNBxbXMFM
Part Three: or this part, I sought to find a specific picture that represented either an ideal I found meaningful or the book as a whole. After a bit of deliberation, the picture I found worthy of talking about was an infinity sign made of foliage. To me, it represents the idea that life, and by extension the soul, is infinite in nature. This being said, the choices you make in one life can affect you down the line. If the foliage of infinity was dynamic, one making bad choices in their life can harm the sign (representing the drop in quality and happiness during one’s infinite journey). If one is to be happy in this life and the next, thereby keeping the foliage of infinity green, they must make good choices.
Regards,
BobbyLikeLike
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THIRD REPLY
Dear Group and others,Reading through the various posts in this forum was extremely interesting and honestly a bit comforting. It’s nice to know that there’s a solid group of people capable of deep thought. One idea I found compelling was Olayah’s ideas on how one can approach the fact that one’s choices in this life can affect their next. As she puts it, “we can take this concept of kindness and forgiveness and apply it to our lives every day and not wait until another life to apply those qualities,” (Safouan, 2022). This actually connects well with a reply from outside of our group by Mr. Timothy Rogers, who brings up that we must value the limited time we have in this life. Making good choices and living a morally-good life will (usually) lead to greater happiness. This would allow us to enjoy the good times more often, and give us the ability to glean everything we can from this life.
Part Two: My Representation of the Bhagavad Gita: A Foliage of infinity https://www.google.com/search?q=foliage+making+an+infinity+sign&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwjTg6Phq_H1AhVDZ98KHZkXB2UQ2-cCegQIABAA&oq=foliage+making+an+infinity+sign&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQA1CfA1j1E2DyFWgAcAB4AIABdogB_QSSAQM4LjGYAQCgAQGqAQtnd3Mtd2l6LWltZ8ABAQ&sclient=img&ei=sQcDYpPnMMPO_QaZr5yoBg&bih=746&biw=1309&rlz=1C5CHFA_enUS812US812#imgrc=hjVN1MNBxbXMFM
Part Three: or this part, I sought to find a specific picture that represented either an ideal I found meaningful or the book as a whole. After a bit of deliberation, the picture I found worthy of talking about was an infinity sign made of foliage. To me, it represents the idea that life, and by extension the soul, is infinite in nature. This being said, the choices you make in one life can affect you down the line. If the foliage of infinity was dynamic, one making bad choices in their life can harm the sign (representing the drop in quality and happiness during one’s infinite journey). If one is to be happy in this life and the next, thereby keeping the foliage of infinity green, they must make good choices.
Regards,
BobbyLikeLike
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Group 3,
Hello all, as we continue with the blog posts I prepare to talk about Lauren’s comment on how when emotions start to operate the way we think and do. “When the mind begins to take control, we lose sense of direction and fall back to being led by personal satisfaction. To me, this is logical. Letting your emotions get the best of you is undoubtedly a negative impact to ourselves.” This part is really true and well put, I am sure we all have done things we regret or think we would not have done if we were in our right head space and did not act out of emotion.
The image I relate The Bhagavad Gita with is the wisdom and older man relays to the youth for a greater cause.
https://th.bing.com/th/id/OIP.P5iBgtQ_0Ly38U9YpLCozwHaE7?pid=ImgDet&rs=1I chose this image because The Bhagavad Gita has rooted conversation amongst us all that has had well meanings posts and retainable insight that we all have soaked in.
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Hello everyone!
I have enjoyed sharing my thoughts with you on the book and reading all of yours as well. This was my first time reading a book like this so it was refreshing going through the process with all of you. This semester I started the first part of my teaching internship and I will say, it has been challenging. Something that caught my attention while reading the book and reading your posts was when Arjuna learns about fighting battles and taking honor in your personal challenges. Brian also talked about this in his post, which fortunately, uplifted my teaching spirits when he mentioned that when it may seem like nothing is going his way it’s a reminder to him that it is all just a test of character and to continue moving forward anyways. This is something I will have to remember the next time my students begin to blurt out tiktok references in front of my assigned teacher instead of working diligently on their assignments (;
Furthermore, Jennifer’s post mentions karma. I love the way Jennifer has explained what that reading meant to her. Jennifer claims that karma is not a bad thing but instead is the idea of “offering a path to positive reintegration and personal growth”. I agree with Jennifer’s way of thinking of the idea of karma. It’s a way to rejuvenate yourself, your morals, your personal growth. etc and is a rehabilitation process.Personally, this book reminded me much of the “tree of life” image, however, it also talks about death and essentially the cycle of life and death. For my representation I chose, https://www.deviantart.com/aviencrest/art/cycle-of-life-and-death-71931374, which is a depiction of a living tree growing over skulls in the ground beneath it. All of the lessons, themes, etc in the book are ways to end the cycle of life and death and to move on into the spiritual realm instead of being born again on earth.
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Post #3
Hi Everyone!
Everyone has been so good on their posts about the book so far! It is all so clear and relevant to the story being told but understood so many different ways. Amy H and Olayah previously touched on the “core values, beliefs, and prejudices” that we act upon frequently. Every day we are placed in various situations and experience different things but that all deals with being comfortable and setting limits, which the book teaches us about.Second, When Laura is talking about the mind and how it loses sense of direction and depending on personal satisfaction that from the book can pertain to but to life in general. We can all sense when our minds travel and start to depend on different things. Life has its rights and wrongs but for some people, it takes longer to figure those out the help from books, movies, etc can be very helpful on the mind.
This picture I found is how I Interpret this. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-brain-cells-behind-a-sense-of-direction/Third, With the image, I chose shows what seems to be little roads within the mind and you can interpret this in so many ways. With this I was able to relate it to the book because without our minds we are stuck with them and they tend to wander down so many paths. There is always a different outcome with what you decide and how to start and get there is your choice. With this picture, I think it truly captured what most of the book was talking about the bout and trying to find the way of meaning and self.
Sincerely,
Anna PatrickLikeLike
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Hello all!
I loved reading the different ways that people were able to understand the readings better, or maybe I should say differently, more thoroughly, through others’ interpretations and thoughts!I found Brian’s response to Jennifer’s post discussing the line “if anyone who has faith but who is not able to perfectly follow the path might be lost forever” about being able to relate it to his Christianity interesting because I have often thought during my reading about the similarities to the two faiths. One of the main ideas that I relate also to Christianity is Krishna explaining to Arjuna throughout the book that in everything he does he must think of him to gain perfect balance. In doing so he will follow his teachings, and will see Krishna in all living creatures, and understand the equal importance of all creatures, treating all living creatures with selfless compassion. I find this a recurring theme in my interpretations of Jesus’s teachings also.
I also appreciated the responses to my questions about obtaining true selflessness and whether it was really possible. I was surprised that I had this response to that concept because I don’t think of myself as a cynical or pessimistic person. When Laurie wrote, in response to my post, “I think that it is fine to enjoy others happiness when it is you who made them happy or joyful, but, if we were to do a good thing for someone because we know it would make ourselves feel good, then that is what makes that action no longer for the sake of the greater good.” I had a real aha moment. I believe that most people commit acts of compassion and generosity for the greater good, but also realized that situations like videos of people recoding themselves giving a homeless person money or food have tainted me somewhat. I just need to remember that they are the few and for every person doing a good deed in hopes of going viral there are hundreds that are never known.
While I know that John Africa became an extremely controversial figure, understandably so, I believe his early ideas were good ones. This quote makes me think of Krishna’s constant reminder to Arjuna that all creatures and the purpose they serve are important and that he lives in them all.
“All living beings, things that move, are equally important, whether they are human beings, dogs, birds, fish, trees, ants, weeds, rivers, wind or rain. To stay healthy and strong, life must have clean air, clear water and pure food. If deprived of these things, life will cycle to the next level, or as the system says, ‘die’.”
— John Africa
https://quotessayings.net/quotes/all-living-beings-things-that-move-are-equally-important-whether-1932895.htmlLikeLike
S22 Bhagavad Gita Project 
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