The Essential Gita

Have you ever noticed that, for the mind, questions never cease? Fortunately, this second volume in the ‘JUST LOVE: Questions & Answers’ series contains 200 answers to questions posed to Paramahamsa Sri Swami Vishwananda between 2010 and 2013. His answers here cover a wide variety of topics, but most of all, He describes how to handle the mind. Paramahamsa Vishwananda says that, on the spiritual path, the mind can either be our best friend or our worst enemy. That’s why this book focuses particularly on how to overcome the obstacles that the mind places between us and the goal of Life itself: Unconditional Divine Love. This is the only kind of love that will truly fulfill us, and Guruji’s wisdom, recommendations, and spiritual practices all help us to transcend the limits the mind imposes.

In Colour These tiny treasures of metaphysical and mythological knowledge serve as enlightening rubrics for understanding Indian tradition and theology. Exquisitely illustrated, this series serves as a contemporary matrix for illuminating our human experience and offers insightful access into Eastern spirituality. From Gandhi in the East to Emerson and Thoreau in the West, accomplished writers, reformers, poets and intellectuals the world over have turned to the Bhagavad Gita for mystic insight and inspiration. Like the Tao Te Ching or the Dhammapada, its timeless wisdom remains surprisingly fresh and relevant. The Essential Gita culls together some of the most potent verses from this enduring classic, addressing provocative subjects like birth and death, desire, leadership and yoga. From the path of right livelihood to the ocean of unconditional love, the sage advice offered within these pages imparts invaluable teachings on life and how to live it.

The Bhagavad Gita, the classic spiritual text more than five thousand years old, has often been called India's greatest contribution to the world. In these pages, Jack Hawley presents the essence of the Gita's teachings in a format accessible to modern readers. The book is organized into chapters that address five important questions spiritual seekers have been grappling with for millennia: Who am I? Why am I here? Who, or what, is the Divinity many call “God”? What is my relationship to that Divinity? Is it even possible to live a spiritual life, and if so, how? Each chapter begins with an introduction by Jack Hawley. The teachings from the Gita follow, arranged under headings relevant to today's seekers, such as “Being the Real You,” “Seeing Divinity in Ordinary Humans,” and “Finding Happiness.” The ancient wisdom of the Bhagavad Gita lives on, helping us today as it has helped countless millions of people through the ages.

Joshua M. Greene has taken one of the most venerable and revered texts of all times -The Bhagavad Gita, and presents it in a completely new way. Greene reveals that the GIta, which can easily be obtuse to the modern reader, is really a simple conversation between two friends about the meaning of life. This fresh new view helps the 21st century seeker relate to the Gita and offers new ways of understanding this essential wisdom. The Gita is a discussion between Krishna and his devoted friend Arjuna on a battlefield known as Kurukshetra, a sprawling tract of land two hours north of Delhi, India. Scriptural calculations put the date of this famous discussion at around 3000 BCE. Like all great literature the Gita explores the human condition: who we are, where we come from, and why we are here. And as with all great literature, the more we study the main characters the more real and human they become. From related works we learn that Krishna and Arjuna played together as children. They were close friends in youth and became family when Arjuna married Krishna’s sister. We learn that later in life they shared extraordinary adventures, including a journey through subtle pathways to places outside the known universe. Plainly put, India’s most revered scripture is a heart-to-heart talk between two men who were closer than brothers and were the best of friends. Above all, The Sacred Conversation is practical and features a very helpful glossary in the back for terms, names, and places. Whether you are an expert on The Bhagavad Gita or a first-time reader, this unique contribtion to spiritual literature offers deep knowledge in a highly accessible way.

Widely read, The Bhagavad Gita is a classic of world spirituality while The essential companion to The Bhagavad Gita, The Uddhava Gita has remained overlooked. This new accessible and only English translation in print of The Uddhava Gita offers a previously unexplored path to understanding Hinduism and Krishna’s wisdom. Written centuries apart, the ideas of the two dialogues are similar although their approach and contexts differ. The Bhagavad Gita is filled with the urgency of battle while The Uddhava Gita takes place on the eve of Krishna’s departure from the world. The Uddhava Gita offers the reader philosophy, sublime poetry, practical guidance, and, ultimately, hope for a more complete consciousness in which the life of the body better reflects the life of the spirit.

This new selection of Gandhi's writings taken from his books, articles, letters and interviews sets out his views on religion, politics, society, non-violence and civil disobedience. Judith M. Brown's excellent introduction and notes examines his philosophy and the political context in which he wrote.