Gita reflection Ch 7 verses 1 & 2

5th June 2024

• The mind is the only instrument we have to realize the Self. When fully available for meditation, it will free itself from its habit of wandering among sense objects.

• One must choose a form of God that represents the bliss of the Self. As one attempts to know the Self, intense love for God will also develop, or vice versa. This is seen in the life of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa.

• Pujya Gurudev Swami Chinmayananda observed: "The thinkers in every field first develop the theory and then apply it as practice, otherwise known as science and technology. So too, first is the philosophy and then the religious practices. Philosophy in action is religion."

• Lord Krishna uses the terms "jnanam" for science and "vijnanam" for technology or application. He elaborates on both of these in the 7th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita.

• Knowing the Self is more important than anything else in the world. Upon knowing the Self, there is nothing more to be known. Why? The Self is of the nature of eternality, knowledge, and bliss - which is what we seek to achieve through all other pursuits.